duck out of
phr. v..phr. v.. to avoid doing something you are supposed to do, or to leave a place quietly to avoid being noticed.
phr. v.. to evade a responsibility or commitment; alternatively, to depart a location or event prematurely and often surreptitiously to avoid social obligation.
I need to duck out of the meeting early for an appointment.
He tried to duck out of doing the dishes by pretending he had a phone call.
The senator attempted to duck out of the debate when the questioning turned toward his controversial voting record and recent financial disclosures.
- Particles
- out of
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- duck + out + of + object
usually followed by a noun representing a task, a commitment, or a physical location.
the verb 'duck' suggests a physical movement of lowering the head, which helps students visualize the idea of 'hiding' from a responsibility.
She ducked out the responsibility.She ducked out of the responsibility.the preposition 'of' is mandatory when followed by an object in this sense.