Duck vs Nothing - What's the difference?
duck | nothing |
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
To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
* Dryden
To lower (the head) in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
To bow.
* Shakespeare
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)
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.
* 2007 , Cynthia Blair, "It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck," , 21 Feb.:
A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
(US) A cairn used to mark a trail.
A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
* 1912 , , "The Woman At The Store", from Selected Short Stories :
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 […].
A term of endearment; pet; darling.
Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
Not any thing; no thing.
*
* , chapter=19
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.
(slang, in double negatives) Anything
Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.
* Jeremy Taylor
A trivial remark (especially in the term (sweet nothings)).
A nobody (insignificant person).
(archaic) Not at all; in no way.
*
As a proper noun duck
is .As a pronoun nothing is
not any thing; no thing.As a noun nothing is
something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.As an adverb nothing is
(archaic) not at all; in no way.duck
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub.
- In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day.
- (Jonathan Swift)
- The learned pate / Ducks to the golden fool.
- 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) dipDerived terms
* duck and cover * duck outEtymology 2
From (etyl) ducke, dukke, doke, dokke, douke, duke, from (etyl) duce, .Noun
- A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
- The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck ’.
Hyponyms
* (bird) Anas platyrhynchos (domesticus), Mallard-derived domestic breeds, including Pekin, Rouen, Campbell, Call, Runner; Cairina moschata, Muscovy duckDerived 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 waterSee also
* anatine * drake * goose * quack * swan * waterfowlReferences
* 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)- He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt.
Etymology 4
(central England). From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck (William Shakespeare - The Life of King Henry the Fifth, Act 2, Scene 3).
- Ay up duck , ow'a'tha?
Synonyms
* SeeDerived terms
* ay up me duckReferences
* '>citation 1000 English basic words English terms with multiple etymologies English affectionate terms ----nothing
English
Alternative forms
* (nonstandard) nuffin, nuffink, nuttin'Pronoun
(wikipedia nothing) (English Pronouns)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}
Finland spreads word on schools, passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
- I didn't see nothing. [= I didn't see anything].
Synonyms
* (not any thing) ** (standard) not a thing ** (slang) jack, nada, zip ** (vulgar slang) bugger all, jack shit, sod all (British), fuck all ** (Northern English dialect) nowt :: See * (something trifling) nothing of any consequence, nothing consequential, nothing important, nothing significant, something inconsequential, something insignificant, something of no consequence, something trifling, something unimportantAntonyms
* anything * everything * somethingNoun
(en noun)- What happened to your face?'' — ''It's nothing.
- Sermons are not like curious inquiries after new nothings , but pursuances of old truths.
- You're nothing to me now!