DUCK
Duck, v. i.
1. To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to dive; to plunge the head in water or other liquid; to dip. In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day. Dryden.
2. To drop the head or person suddenly; to bow. The learned pate Ducks to the golden fool. Shak.
DUCK
Duck, n. Etym: [OE. duke, doke. See Duck, v. t. ]
1. (Zool.)
Defn: Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ.
Note: The genera and species are numerous. They are divided into river ducks and sea ducks. Among the former are the common domestic duck (Anas boschas); the wood duck (Aix sponsa); the beautiful mandarin duck of China (Dendronessa galeriliculata); the Muscovy duck, originally of South America (Cairina moschata). Among the sea ducks are the eider, canvasback, scoter, etc.
2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water. Here be, without duck or nod, Other trippings to be trod. Milton. Bombay duck (Zoöl.), a fish. See Bummalo. — Buffel duck, or Spirit duck. See Buffel duck. — Duck ant (Zoöl.), a species of white ant in Jamaica which builds large nests in trees. — Duck barnacle. (Zoöl.) See Goose barnacle. — Duck hawk. (Zoöl.) (a) In the United States: The peregrine falcon. (b) In England: The marsh harrier or moor buzzard. — Duck mole (Zoöl.), a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; — called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole. — To make ducks and drakes, to throw a flat stone obliquely, so as to make it rebound repeatedly from the surface of the water, raising a succession of jets; hence: To play at ducks and drakes, with property, to throw it away heedlessly or squander it foolishly and unprofitably. — Lame duck. See under Lame.
DUCKBILL
Duck"bill`, n. (Zoöl.)
Defn: See Duck mole, under Duck, n.