ducked

Verb

duck (third-person singular simple present ducks, present participle ducking, simple past and past participle ducked)

1. (transitive) To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
   • As some raw youth in country bred,
     To arms by thirst of honour led,
     When at a skirmish first he hears
     The bullets whistling round his ears,
     Will duck his head asidec. 1729, Jonathan Swift, To Dr. Delany on the Libels Written Against Him

   Synonyms:

   dip

2. (transitive) To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
   • Adams after ducking the Squire tvvice or thrice leaped out of the Tub, […]1742, Henry Fielding, “A Scene of Roasting Very Nicely Adapted to the Present Taste and Times”, in The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. […], volume...

   Synonyms:

   dip, dunk

3. (intransitive) To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
   • […]In Tiber ducking thrice, by break of day[…]1693, Aulus Persius Flaccus, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus.] The Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with...
4. (intransitive) To bow.
   • The Learned pate / Duckes to the Golden Foole.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
5. (figuratively, transitive) To evade doing something, especially something considered a responsibility.
   • Victorian women choosing to duck the demands of domestic life to spend their time doing something they enjoyed is hardly a novel idea.2018 July 21, Kathryn Hughes, “The strange cult of Emily Brontë and the 'hot mess' of Wuthering Heights”, in The Guardian
6. (transitive) To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
   • The music is ducked under the voice.2007, Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects, page 183

See all 29 meanings of duck