I. ˈdəkt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin ductus act of leading, shape (of a letter), from past participle of ducere to lead — more at tow
1. obsolete
a. : action of leading : guidance
b. : direction
c. : passage
d. : a stroke of a letter
2.
[New Latin ductus, from Medieval Latin, aqueduct, from Latin]
anatomy : a tube or vessel — used especially of those that carry off the secretion of a gland but used also of lymphatic vessels, certain blood vessels, and other canals
thoracic duct
acoustic duct
3.
a. : a pipe, tube, or channel by which a substance (as water, gas, air) is conveyed
b. : a usually underground pipe or tubular runway for carrying an electric power line, telephone cables, or other conductors
4. botany
a. : a continuous tube formed by a row of elongated cells which have lost their intervening end walls — compare trachea , vessel
b. : an elongated cavity formed by disintegration or separation of cells (as a resin canal of a conifer)
5. : ink fountain
6. : an atmospheric condition which usually obtains when warm dry air is resting on cool moist air and by which radio waves are confined to the neighborhood of the earth's surface with resulting abnormally long transmission ranges
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to convey (as a gas) through a duct