duck vs encounter

duck

noun
  • A playing card with the rank of two. 

  • A long-necked medical urinal for men. 

  • A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related. 

  • One of the weights used to hold a spline in place for the purpose of drawing a curve. 

  • Trousers made of such material. 

  • A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth. 

  • A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games. 

  • The flesh of a duck used as food. 

  • An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet. 

  • A term of endearment; pet; darling. 

  • A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace. 

  • A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.) 

  • Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling. 

  • A cairn used to mark a trail. 

  • Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger). 

verb
  • To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw. 

  • To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly. 

  • To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something. 

  • To enter a place for a short moment. 

  • To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid. 

  • To evade doing something. 

  • To quickly lower the head or body, often in order to prevent it from being struck by something. 

  • To bow. 

encounter

noun
  • A match between two opposing sides. 

  • A sexual encounter; sexual activity, especially unplanned or unexpected, between people not in a sexual relationship, that usually does not lead to the establishment of a relationship, and may or may not happen again. A sexual encounter could be consensual or non-consensual; in the latter case, it is a sexual assault. A consensual sexual encounter that happens only once is commonly known as a one-night stand. 

  • A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants. 

  • A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected. 

  • An extrajudicial killing or execution. 

verb
  • To execute someone extrajudicially. 

  • To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly. 

  • To confront (someone or something) face to face. 

  • To engage in conflict, as with an enemy. 

How often have the words duck and encounter occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )