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Mum vs Duck - What's the difference?

mum | duck |

As proper nouns the difference between mum and duck

is that mum is one's mother while duck is .

mum

English

Alternative forms

* mam * mom, Mom (US) * Mum

Etymology 1

Alternative form of mam, or an abbreviation of mummy. Compare mom, mama.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (UK, Australia, Canada, New England, informal) Mother.
  • * 1993 , Hilda Hollingsworth, Places of Greater Safety , Zenobia Press edition, page 278,
    • 'Ooh Mum', Auntie don?t allow smokin’ - Pat?s eyes were round with awe as ' Mum struck a match.
  • * 2004 , Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, Irene Dunlap, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2 , page 336,
    • Her mum says that she is deaf and only partially sighted, so I need to go and stand in front of her, so she can see the gift.
  • * 2006 , , page 88,
    • “Mum'! '''Mum'''!” he shouted out. The laughter stopped. Two bright, sparkling yellow eyes peeped from the hollow. Atop her head were the fluffy ear tufts that his '''mum''' was so proud of because they were fuller and lovelier than those of most Great Horned Owls. It was indeed his ' mum !
  • * 2011 , Chyna, FAM: Rolling in a London Girl Gang , unnumbered page,
    • He?s looking at my mum , at her swollen eyes, busted nose and bloodied lips. She?s mashed up something chronic, and the man who did this to her is my dad.
  • (dated) A term of respect for an older woman.
  • * 1840 , , Volume 1, 1851, page 130,
    • “Wy, mum',” said Mr. Weller, “I don?t think you?ll see a many sich, and that?s the truth. But if my son Samivel vould give me my vay, '''mum , and dis-pense with his—''might I wenter to say the vurd?”
    “What word Mr Weller?” said the housekeeper, blushing slightly.
    “Petticuts, mum ,” returned that gentleman, laying his had upon the garments of his grandson. “If my son Samivel vould only dis-pense vith these here, you?d see sich a alteration in his appearance, as the imagination can?t depicter!”
  • * 1885 , , 2011, unnumbered page,
    • Then she took off the hank and looked me straight in the face, and very pleasant, and says:
    “Come, now, what?s your real name?
    “Wh -- what, mum ?”
    “What?s your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob? -- Or what is it?”
    Usage notes
    Mum is only capitalized when used as a proper noun: * I don't think Mum will like you. * I don't think my mum will like you. *In New England, the word may still be spelt "mom", but it will have the pronunciation of "mum."
    Synonyms
    * See also

    Etymology 2

    Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A chrysanthemum.

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) mum or .

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (colloquial) silent.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The citizens are mum , and speak not a word.
  • (colloquial) secret.
    • Derived terms
    * keep mum * mum's the word

    Interjection

  • stop speaking! hush!
  • * Shakespeare
    • Mum , then, and no more.

    Verb

    (mumm)
  • to act in a pantomime or dumb show

    • Noun

    (-)
  • (obsolete) silence
    • (Hudibras)

    Etymology 4

    (etyl) Mummere, named after Christian Mumme, who first brewed it in 1492.

    Noun

    (-)
  • A sort of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.
    • (Addison)
    The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum . — Alexander Pope.

    Anagrams

    * * English palindromes ----

    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 ----