- (plural ducks, duck)[countable]
a common bird that lives on or near water and has short legs, webbed feet (= feet with thin pieces of skin between the toes) and a wide beak. There are many types of duck, some of which are kept for their meat or eggs. 鴨 
wild ducks 野鴨 duck eggs 鴨蛋 Every afternoon they went to the park to feed the ducks. 每天下午他們都去公園喂鴨子。 Ducks were quacking noisily on the lake. 鴨子在湖上嘎嘎作響。
Extra ExamplesTopics Birdsa2A flock of ducks bobbed near the shore. 一隊鴨子在岸邊快速遊動。 A rubber duck floated in the bath. 有一只橡皮鴨浮在浴盆裏。 Some species of duck dive for food, while others dabble for plants and insects near the surface. 有些種類的鴨子潛水尋找食物，而其餘種類的鴨子只在水面戲水尋找植物和昆蟲。 The ducks paddled furiously to grab the bread. 鴨子拚命地遊去搶面包。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- wild
- long-tailed
- mallard
- …
- flock
- feed
- hunt
- quack
- paddle
- swim
- …
- breast
- confit
- egg
- …
- [countable]
a female duck 母鴨 - [uncountable]
meat from a duck 鴨肉 roast duck with orange sauce 烤鴨蘸橘子醬 Slice the duck breast and serve. 把鴨胸脯切成薄片後端上來。 In a large saucepan, melt the duck fat. 在一個大平底鍋裏，將鴨油熔化。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- wild
- long-tailed
- mallard
- …
- flock
- feed
- hunt
- quack
- paddle
- swim
- …
- breast
- confit
- egg
- …
- (also duckie, ducks, ducky)[countable, usually singular] (British English, informal)
a friendly way of speaking to somebody （表示友好的稱呼）乖乖，寶貝兒 - a duck[singular]
(in cricket 板球 a batsman's score of zero 零分 see also lame duck, sitting duck
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 Old English duce, from the Germanic base of duck in the verb sense (expressing the notion of ‘diving bird’). noun sense 5 mid 19th cent.: short for duck's egg, used for the figure 0 because of its similar outline. noun sense 4 late 16th cent.: from duck, the bird.
Idioms
a dead duck
- (informal)
a plan, an event, etc. that has failed or is certain to fail and that is therefore not worth discussing 已失敗（或注定要失敗、毫無討論價值）的計劃（或事情等）
get/have (all) your ducks in a row
- (especially North American English)
to have made all the preparations needed to do something; to be well organized 爲某事做充分準備；把事情安排得井井有條 The company has its ducks in a row for a move into the Asian market. 該公司爲進軍亞洲市場而大打出手。 Get your ducks in a row before you retire. 退休前把你的鴨子排成一排。
(take to something) like a duck to water
(like) water off a duck’s back