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