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23 Duck Idioms And Phrases (Meaning & Examples)

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In today’s post, we are going to take a look at some useful duck idioms to spice up your English conversation.

In total, we are going to look at 23 duck idioms.

For each one, we will first explain what it means and then we will talk about how to use it in a sentence.

Let’s begin…

23 Duck Idioms And Phrases (Meaning & Examples)

1. As Easy As Duck Soup

  • Meaning: to express that something is extremely easy to do.
  • Use In A Sentence: This math test is as easy as duck soup.

2. A Lame Duck

  • Meaning: used to describe someone or something that needs help. It can also be used to describe a weak person or someone that is not successful.
  • Use In A Sentence: This business started off as a lame duck, but over the years it has grown into a huge profitable company.

3. All Duck Or No Dinner

  • Meaning: all or nothing. A situation that results in either a complete success or a complete failure.
  • Use In A Sentence: This job interview is my one opportunity to get my dream job. It is all duck or no dinner for me.

4. To Be Like Water Off A Duck’s Back

  • Meaning: criticism said against a person has little or no effect on them.
  • Use In A Sentence: What he says doesn’t bother me. His words are like water off a duck’s back.

5. To Be A Dead Duck

  • Meaning: something or someone that is useless/worthless. It can also be used to describe something that is a failure.
  • Use In A Sentence: This idea was a dead duck from the beginning. I knew we should have done something different.
  • Meaning: to get into a lot of trouble, to be punished severely.
  • Use In A Sentence: When Dad finds out you skipped school, you are a dead duck.

6. Duck (Odd, Strange, Queer)

  • Meaning: used to describe a person that is odd or weird.
  • Use In A Sentence: What did you think of Mary? She is nice, but she is one strange duck.

7. To Duck Out

  • Meaning: to sneak out of a place without others noticing. To evade something.
  • Use In A Sentence: Eddy tried to duck out of his chores, but his mom reminded him he needed to wash the dishes before playing basketball.

8. Ducks And Drakes

  • Meaning: to skip stones on the water.
  • Use In A Sentence: Where is Mario? He is down by the lake playing ducks and drakes.

9. Fine/Lovely Weather For Ducks

  • Meaning: used to describe wet or rainy weather.
  • Use In A Sentence: What is the weather like outside? It is lovely weather for ducks. I guess all it does in Seattle is rain.
to have one's ducks in a row - duck idioms

10. To Have One’s Duck’s In A Row

  • Meaning: to get one’s affairs organized.
  • Use In A Sentence: Just when I felt like I had all my ducks in a row, the company decided to change its policies.

11. Knee-High To A Duck

  • Meaning: to say that a person is very young.
  • Use In A Sentence: I used to watch that TV show when I was knee-high to a duck.
  • Meaning: to say that a person is short.
  • Use In A Sentence: Wow you have gotten so tall! The last time I saw you, you were knee-high to a duck.

12. To Take To Something Like A Duck To Water

  • Meaning: to do something very easily. To do something naturally with very little effort.
  • Use In A Sentence: I thought he was going to have a hard time learning Spanish, but he has taken to it like a duck to water.

13. To Pour Water On A Duck’s Back

  • Meaning: to do something that is useless or worthless.
  • Use In A Sentence: Don’t talk to him about it. No matter how hard you try, you are not going to change him. It would be like pouring water on a duck’s back. You aren’t going to see any results.
to be a sitting duck - duck idioms

14. To Be A Sitting Duck

  • Meaning: someone or something that is vulnerable to some sort of attack. It can be a physical or verbal attack. To be an easy target.
  • Use In A Sentence: George felt like a sitting duck walking down the dark alley at night. He felt like at any moment someone was going to jump out and rob him.

15. To Be As Happy As A Duck In Arizona

  • Meaning: to be miserable.
  • Use In A Sentence: His dad never showed up to watch his first baseball game. So he is as happy as a duck in Arizona right now.

16. To Duck And Cover

  • Meaning: to hide, to seek shelter, to take cover.
  • Use In A Sentence: Duck and cover or else they are going to see us.

17. To Duck Down

  • Meaning: to crouch down in order to hide from something or someone.
  • Use In A Sentence: The remote control airplane almost hit his head. Good thing he ducked down just in time.

18. Like A Dying Duck In A Thunderstorm

  • Meaning: used to describe when a person looks hopeless or dejected.
  • Use In A Sentence: Why do you look like a dying duck in a thunderstorm? The game isn’t over yet. Your team still has a chance to win the Super Bowl.

19. To Be A Lucky Duck

  • Meaning: an extremely lucky person.
  • Use In A Sentence: Harry won the lottery again? He is such a lucky duck.

20. To Milk A Duck

  • Meaning: to try to do something that is nearly impossible to do.
  • Use In A Sentence: Getting Andrew to eat his vegetables is like trying to milk a duck.

21. A Mud Duck

  • Meaning: an ugly person.
  • Use In A Sentence: That is one mud duck sitting on that bench over there.
duck face - idioms about ducks

22. Duck Face

  • Meaning: when a person sticks out their lips like a duck. Pouty face.
  • Use In A Sentence: I deleted Instagram. I was tired of seeing all the duck faces every morning.

23. To Duck And Dive

  • Meaning: to cleverly avoid addressing a problem or situation.
  • Use In A Sentence: I tried to get him to answer the question, but he is so good at ducking and diving.

There you have it! 23 duck idioms you can start using in your conversation today. Which one is your favorite? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.