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Definition: duck from Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z

The general name for a family of swimming birds Anatidae with webbed feet and a broad flat beak, some wild, others domesticated, common in French and Chinese cuisines. See also canard, Peking duck

duck

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
common name for wild and domestic waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and swans. It is hunted and bred for its meat, eggs, and feathers. Strictly speaking, duck refers to the female and drake to the male. Ducks are usually divided into three groups: the surface-feeding ducks—such as the mallard, wood duck, black duck, and teal—which frequent ponds, marshes, and other quiet waters; the diving ducks—such as the canvasback, scaup, scoter, eider, and redhead—found on bays, rivers, and lakes; and the fish-eating ducks, the mergansers, with slender, serrated bills, which also prefer open water. The surface feeders take wing straight up, while the divers patter along the water's surface in taking off. Ducks make long migratory flights. At the time of the postnuptial molt, the power of flight is temporarily lost, and most of the Northern Hemisphere drakes assume “eclipse” plumage similar to that of the female. The ancestor of all domestic breeds (see poultry ), except…
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Full text Article duck

From Word Origins
A duck is a bird that ‘ducks’ - as simple as that. It gets its name from its habit of diving down under the surface of the water. There is no actual record of an English verb duck until the 14th century, but it is generally assumed that an Old English verb *dūcan did exist, which would have formed…
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Full text Article duck

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Ducks were domesticated more than 3000 years ago....
Worldwide waterfowl, related to the swan and goose . Most nest in cool areas and migrate to warm areas in winter. All have large bills, short legs and webbed feet. Their colour is varied, and dense plumage is underlaid by down and waterproof feathers. There are two groups: dabbling ducks, which feed…
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Full text Article Duck

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
See duck's egg . To use one's ingenuity to escape from an undesirable or difficult situation. The metaphor may come from a boxer's agile attempts to avoid his opponent's blows, although the expression has also been explained as rhyming slang on ‘skive’. A specially made chair in which the culprit…
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Full text Article duck

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Any of about 50 species of short-legged waterbirds with webbed feet and flattened bills, of the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes, which also includes the larger geese and swans. Ducks were domesticated for eggs, meat, and feathers by the ancient Chinese and the ancient Maya (see poultry ). Most…
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Full text Article duck

From Library of Health and Living: The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health
This member of the poultry family has been a food staple around the world for millennia. Its history as a domestic fowl can be traced back 4,000 years; the Chinese white-feathered Pekin duck dates to the Yuan dynasty, which lasted from 1279 to 1368 BCE . In America Native Americans and early…
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Full text Article duck

From The Oxford Companion to Food
a bird which exists in many wild species right round the world (see wild duck ), but of which the domesticated kinds are those commonly eaten. Domestication began over 2,000 years ago in China, and was being practised in classical Rome (witness Columella, 1st century ad ) and has been pursued with…
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Full text Article DUCK

From Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink
Any of a variety of web-footed birds of the family Anatidae that may be either wild or domesticated and that inhabit open water, marshes, ponds, lakes, and rivers. The word is from Old English dūce , appearing in print as “ducan” in 967. Ducks have been esteemed for their culinary value by most…
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Full text Article duck

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
common name for wild and domestic waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and swans. It is hunted and bred for its meat, eggs, and feathers. Strictly speaking, duck refers to the female and drake to the male. Ducks are usually divided into three groups: the surface-feeding…
| 423 words
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Full text Article lame duck

From Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections
Lame duck refers to an elected official who remains in office after having been defeated in an election and before the successor begins his or her new term. The term also includes those elected officials serving out the remainder of their terms having chosen not to run for reelection or, due to term…
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Full text Article duck; duckling

From The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion
Any of many species of wild or domestic web-footed birds that live in or near water. As with so many things culinary, the Chinese are credited with being the first to raise ducks for food. Today's domestic ducks are all descendants of either of two species—the mallard or the muscovy duck. Comprising…
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