duck
意味一覧 (3件)
アヒル
解説 Definition
平たいくちばしと水かきのある足を持つ水鳥を指します。池や湖で泳ぐ姿、家畜として飼われる鳥、または野生の水鳥として話題にする時に使われる、具体的な動物名です。
A duck is a bird that usually lives near water and has a wide flat beak and webbed feet. The word is commonly used for wild or domestic birds that swim on ponds, lakes, or rivers.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
duck は「水辺で泳ぐ、平たいくちばしの鳥」という絵で覚えると安定します。a duck in the pond, feed the ducks のように、池・湖・水面・えさやりの場面と結びつきやすい語です。goose は体が大きく首が長め、swan は白鳥なので、duck はより小さく身近な水鳥として区別します。動詞 duck の「身を低くする」とは形は同じですが、この名詞では鳥そのものに集中して覚えると混乱しにくいです。
Picture a duck with a flat bill and webbed feet near a pond or lake. It helps to connect the noun duck with the verb duck, because both suggest a quick dipping movement. Remember duckling too, and keep it separate from goose, which is usually larger.
例文
The duck swam in the pond.
そのアヒルは池で泳ぎました。
The mother duck led her ducklings to the water.
母アヒルはアヒルの子どもたちを水辺へ導きました。
We saw a wild duck at the lake.
私たちは湖で野生のアヒルを見ました。
身をかがめる
(意味 2)解説 Definition
頭や上体を瞬間的に下げ、飛んでくる物や低い障害物を避ける動作を表します。会話では命令形 “Duck!” で「伏せて！」のようにとっさの危険回避を促す場面にもよく使われます。
As a verb, duck means to lower your head or upper body very quickly, usually to avoid being hit by something or to get past something low. It often describes a sudden, reflex-like movement rather than a slow bend. In conversation, people also shout "Duck!" to warn someone to drop down fast when danger is coming. The idea can also extend figuratively to avoiding a question, responsibility, or difficult situation.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
duck は「すばやく沈む・低くなる」動作として覚えると、bend との違いが見えます。bend は単に体を曲げることも含みますが、duck はボール、枝、視線、攻撃などを避けるための短い反射動作です。duck under the table なら、テーブルの下をくぐるように身を低くする感じ。物理的な動きから、質問や責任を「かわす」という比喩にも広がります。
Think of duck as a quick drop downward. Unlike bend, which can simply mean to curve or lean, duck usually suggests a short, fast movement to avoid a ball, a branch, someone's gaze, or an attack. In duck under the table, the image is of lowering yourself quickly to get underneath. This physical idea also helps explain the figurative meaning of avoiding a question or responsibility.
例文
She had to duck when the ball flew toward her face.
ボールが顔に飛んできたので、彼女はとっさに身をかがめた。
We ducked under the branch and kept walking along the trail.
私たちは枝をよけるように身をかがめて、そのまま道を進んだ。
The minister tried to duck the reporter's question with a vague answer.
その大臣はあいまいな答えで記者の質問をかわそうとした。
カモ
(意味 3)解説 Definition
水辺にすむ鳥のカモを指す。日常語では野生のカモを思い浮かべることが多く、家庭で飼われるアヒルとは日本語では言い分けられる場合がある。
A duck is a water bird with a flat bill and webbed feet. It usually lives on or near lakes, ponds, rivers, and other wet places. In everyday English, duck often refers to the wild bird, though some ducks are also kept by people. In Japanese, people may sometimes separate duck from domestic birds like ducks kept on farms, such as ahiru.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
bird だけだと鳥全般ですが、duck は『平たいくちばしで、水かきの足を持つ、水辺の鳥』まで絞った語です。名詞の duck を見たら、同じ形の動詞 duck『さっと身をかがめる』も一緒に思い出すと定着しやすく、水に頭を突っ込むアヒルの動きが共通イメージになります。lake, pond, swim, duckling など水辺の語と結びつけると覚えやすく、goose はより大きい別の鳥なので混同しないこと。
Bird is a very general word, but duck is more specific: think of a water bird with a flat bill and webbed feet. When you learn the noun duck, it also helps to remember the verb duck, meaning to bend down quickly. Both words share the image of going down, like a duck putting its head into the water. You can also connect duck with words like lake, pond, swim, and duckling, and keep it separate from goose, which is a larger bird.
例文
We saw a duck swimming across the pond.
池を泳いでいるカモを見ました。
A duck landed quietly on the lake near the reeds.
1羽のカモが草むらの近くの湖に静かに降りました。
The child pointed at the duck and laughed when it shook water off its wings.
その子はカモを指さし、羽の水を振り払うのを見て笑いました。
duck の語源・成り立ち Etymology
古英語 dūce（潜る者）に由来し、印欧祖語の *dūk-（潜る）が語源。水に頭を突っ込んで餌を取る習性から名付けられた。動詞 duck（身をかがめる・潜る）も同語源で、「水中に沈む動作」が共通イメージ。
Duck comes from Old English duce, probably meaning "diver." It is linked to an old Germanic root for dipping or going under water, based on the bird's habit of diving its head into water to find food. The verb duck, meaning to lower the head or body quickly, comes from the same image of dropping down.
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