What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Duck vs Bee - What's the difference?

duck | bee |

As a proper noun duck

is .

As a noun bee is

.

duck

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • To lower the head or body in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
  • To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
  • * Fielding
    • Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub.
  • To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
  • * Dryden
    • In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day.
  • To lower (the head) in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
    • (Jonathan Swift)
  • To bow.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The learned pate / Ducks to the golden fool.
  • To evade doing something.
  • To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
  • * 2007 , Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects (page 183)
    • The music is ducked under the voice.
    Synonyms
    * (to lower the head) duck down * (to lower into the water) dip, dunk * (to lower in order to prevent it from being struck by something) dip
    Derived terms
    * duck and cover * duck out

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) ducke, dukke, doke, dokke, douke, duke, from (etyl) duce, .

    Noun

  • An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.
  • Specifically'', an adult female duck; ''contrasted with'' drake ''and with duckling.
  • (uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.
  • (cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.)
  • (slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
  • A partly-flooded cave passage with limited air space.
  • A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.
    • A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
  • * 2007 , Cynthia Blair, "It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck," , 21 Feb.:
    • The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck ’.
  • A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
  • (US) A cairn used to mark a trail.
    • Hyponyms
    * (bird) Anas platyrhynchos (domesticus), Mallard-derived domestic breeds, including Pekin, Rouen, Campbell, Call, Runner; Cairina moschata, Muscovy duck
    Derived terms
    * break one’s duck, break the duck * Burdekin duck * dabbling duck * decoy duck * diving duck * duck-arsed * duckbill * duck-billed * duckboard * duck-footed * duckling * duckness * ducks and drakes * ducks on the pond * hunt where the ducks are * lame duck * Lord love a duck * odd duck * Peking duck * rubber duck * * shelduck * sitting duck * take to something like a duck to water

    See also

    * anatine * drake * goose * quack * swan * waterfowl

    References

    * Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) doek, from (etyl) doeck, .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (Scotland)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
  • * 1912 , , "The Woman At The Store", from Selected Short Stories :
    • He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt.
  • Trousers made of such material.
  • *1918 , (Rebecca West), The Return of the Soldier , Virago 2014, p. 56:
  • *:And they would go up and find old Allington, in white ducks , standing in the fringe of long grasses and cow-parsley on the other edge of the island […].

    • Etymology 4

    (central England). From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A term of endearment; pet; darling.
    • And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck (William Shakespeare - The Life of King Henry the Fifth, Act 2, Scene 3).
  • Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
    • Ay up duck , ow'a'tha?

    Synonyms

    * See

    Derived terms

    * ay up me duck

    References

    * '>citation 1000 English basic words English terms with multiple etymologies English affectionate terms ----

    bee

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) bee, from (etyl) ).

    Noun

    (s)
  • A flying insect, of the superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies and for collecting pollen and producing wax and honey.
  • *1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
  • *:His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge.
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
    • An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had, / Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee .
  • *, II.12:
  • *:Can there be a more formall, and better ordered policie, divided into so severall charges and offices, more constantly entertained, and better maintained, than that of Bees ?
  • *2012 , ‘Subtle poison’, The Economist , 31 March:
  • *:Bees pollinate many of the world’s crops—a service estimated to be worth $15 billion a year in America alone.
    • Derived terms
    * bee-eater * beekeeper * beehive * beehouse * beeline * beeswax * bee's knees * bumblebee * honeybee * carpenter bee * have a bee in your bonnet * put the bee on * queen bee * stingless bee * sting like a bee * worker bee
    Synonyms
    *
    See also
    * apian * apiarian * apiarist * apiary * apimania * * * drone * dumbledore * hornet * honey * imbe * pollinator * wasp

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from dialectal (etyl) bene, been, .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
    • geography bee
  • A gathering for a specific purpose, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
  • * S. G. Goodrich
    • The cellar was dug by a bee in a single day.
  • * 2011 , Tim Blanning, "The reinvention of the night", Times Literary Supplement , 21 Sep 2011:
    • Particularly resistant, for example, in many parts of northern Europe was the “spinning bee ”, a nocturnal gathering of women to exchange gossip, stories, refreshment and – crucially – light and heat, as they spun wool or flax, knitted or sewed.

    Etymology 3

    (Northern development of) (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A ring or torque; a bracelet.
  • * 1485 , Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur , Book VII:
    • And Kynge Arthure gaff hir a ryche bye of golde; and so she departed.
  • * 1658 , Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial , Penguin 2005, page 16:
    • ...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees , the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him...

    Etymology 4

    Variant spellings.

    Verb

    (head)
  • * 1604 Reverend Cawdrey Table Aleph
    • held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’
  • (obsolete) ; been
    • (Spenser)

    Etymology 5

    Noun

    (en noun)
    • See also
    *

    Etymology 6

    Probably from an (etyl) word meaning "ring". See bow.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.
    • Synonyms
    * bee block

    References

    English terms with multiple etymologies ----