DUCK (5)

Duck, n. [[OE. duke, doke. See Duck, v. t. ]] 1. 1. (Zool.) Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ.
☞ 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. 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.