duck
I saw the duck duck under the branch to avoid the low-hanging fruit.
The sentence describes a duck (the bird) lowering its body to avoid a low-hanging branch.
Meanings (pronounced /dʌk/)
a waterbird with a broad blunt bill, short legs, and webbed feet
- A flock of ducks landed on the pond.
- The ducks waddled across the lawn.
to lower the head or body quickly to avoid being seen, hit, or caught
- She ducked just as the ball flew past.
- He ducked into a doorway to avoid being recognized.
Word origin
Both senses come from Old English dūce ('a diver') from the verb dūcan ('to dive, plunge'). The bird was named for its diving behavior; the verb 'to duck' (lower oneself to avoid something) preserves the original 'dive' sense more directly. So while modern speakers experience these as homonyms, they are the same word at root — the bird's name comes from the verb.
Fun fact
The bird is named after the verb, not the other way around — Old English dūce literally meant 'a diver,' which is what ducks do when they tip forward to feed underwater. So a duck ducks because it's, etymologically, a ducker.