Dictionary

duck out en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Possibly an allusion to the abrupt manner in which a swimming duck can dive and disappear beneath the surface of the water, or from duck (“lower the head or body”) as to avoid notice.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To depart quickly or exit abruptly, especially in a manner which does not attract notice and before a meeting, event, etc. has concluded.
   • Cathy Song needed to duck out from work at 3pm to ferry her child from pre-school to a neighbour's. 2002 August 29, Leonie Lamont, “Working mothers triumph in two rulings”, in Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, retrieved 26 Nov 2010:
   • Wile they was still talking along these lines, the orchestra begin to drool a Perfect Day, so I ducked out on the porch for air. 1921, Ring Lardner, Sr., chapter 4, in The Big Town:
   • Fearful of missing a roll-call, Representative Charles E. Bennett has ducked out of funerals, bolted from hospital beds and defied snowstorms to get to the House chamber. 1991 June 8, Richard Berke, “Sizzling 40-Year Streak Of Never Missing a Vote”, in New York Times, retrieved 26 Nov 2010:
2. (idiomatic, transitive) To depart quickly or exit abruptly by way of, especially in a manner which does not attract notice and before a meeting, event, etc. has concluded.
   • The four-term Democrat, known to critics as "King Kevin" and "Mayor De Luxe," has been threatened with recall petitions and recently ducked out the back door of a restaurant to avoid picketers. 1981 June 15, “Copious Coping: How Other Mayors Fare”, in Time:
3. (followed by of or from, idiomatic, intransitive) To move or act so as to achieve avoidance, escape, or evasion.
   • Congress even now is considering enlarging that deficit by cutting those taxes. . . . It means ducking out of the basic Social Security problem. 1978, "Another free lunch" (editorial), St. Petersburg Times (USA), 20 March, p. 10A (retrieved 26 Nov 2010)
   • In the one moment he saw his opponent ducking out of his field of vision and the background of white, watching faces; in the next moment he again saw his opponent and the background of faces. 1911, Jack London, “A Piece of Steak”, in When God Laughs and Other Stories:
   • [A]ny project for renewal is subject to a wide variety of destabilizing forces, not least when elites seek to duck out from the commitments they themselves have made. 2002 April 1, Ian Taylor, “Obstacles to Change in Africa”, in Foreign Policy in Focus, retrieved 26 Nov 2010:
4. (slang, transitive) To avoid a debt; to skip out on a bill.

Forms

Coordinates

take a French leave

Translations (5)

es escaquearse ((intransitive) to depart quickly or exit abruptly) · fr s'esquiver ((intransitive) to depart quickly or exit abruptly) · ru улизнуть ((intransitive) to depart quickly or exit abruptly) · ru избегать (to move or act so as to achieve avoidance, escape, or evasion) · es escaquearse (to move or act so as to achieve avoidance, escape, or evasion)