duck

1 to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery <don't try to duck your commitment to spending Thanksgiving with your family by claiming you have to work> Synonyms avoid, dodge, escape, elude, eschew, evade, finesse, get around, scape, shake, shirk, shuffle (out of), shun, weasel (out of)Related Words miss; avert, deflect, divert, obviate, parry, prevent, ward (off); ban, bar, debar, eliminate, except, exclude, preclude, rule out; bypass, circumvent, skirt; foil, fox, frustrate, outfox, outsmart, outwit, overreach, thwartNear Antonyms accept, court, embrace, pursue, seek, welcome; catch, contract, incur

2 to move suddenly aside or to and fro <duck behind a pillar before they see us> Synonyms dodge, jink, sidestep, slalom, weave, zigzagRelated Words avoid, elude, escape, evade, parry, shirk, skirt; deflect, turn; slide, slip

3 to sink or push (something) briefly into or as if into a liquid <ducked the new camper in the lake as a joke> Synonyms douse (also dowse), dip, dunk, immerse, souse, sop, submerge, submerseRelated Words bathe, moisten, soak, steep, wet; drench, drown, flood; dive, plunge, thrust