Duck

Duck, duk, n. name given to any member of the family Anatidæ, the prominent marks of which are short webbed feet, with a small hind-toe not reaching the ground, the netted scales in front of the lower leg, and the long bill: the female duck as distinguished from the male drake: in cricket (originally duck's egg), the zero (0), which records in a scoring-sheet that a player has made no runs: (coll.) a darling, sweetheart: a financial defaulter—esp. Lame Duck: also of things.—ns. Duck′-ant, a Jamaican termite nesting in trees; Duck′-bill, an aquatic burrowing and egg-laying Australian mammal, about 18 inches long, with soft fur, broadly webbed feet, and depressed duck-like bill—also called Duck-mole, Platypus, and Ornithorhynchus.—adj. Duck′-billed, having a bill like a duck.—n. Duck′-hawk, the moor-buzzard or marsh-harrier: the peregrine falcon of the United States.—adj. Duck′-legged, short-legged.—ns. Duck′ling, a young duck; Duck's′-foot, the lady's mantle; Duck′-weed, a name for several species of Lemna and Wolffia growing in ditches; Bombay duck, bummals; Wild′-duck, the mallard.—Break one's duck (cricket), to make one's first run (see above); Make, Play, ducks and drakes, to use recklessly: squander, waste (with with, of)—from the skipping of a flat stone across the surface of water. [A.S. duce, a duck, from, dúcan, to duck, dive.]