Webster's 1828 Dictionary
DUCKING
ppr. Plunging; thrusting suddenly into water and withdrawing; dipping.
DUCKING
n.The act of plunging or putting in water and withdrawing. Ducking is a punishment of offenders in France, and among English seamen, it is a penalty to which sailors are subject on passing, for the first time, the equator or tropic.
DUCKING-STOOL
n.A stool or chair in which common scolds were formerly tied and plunged into water.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
DUCKING
DUCKING Duck "ing, n. & a.
Defn:, from Duck, v. t. & i. Ducking stool, a stool or chair in which common scolds were formerly tied, and plunged into water, as a punishment. See Cucking stool. The practice of ducking began in the latter part of the 15th century, and prevailed until the early part of the 18th, and occasionally as late as the 19th century. Blackstone. Chambers.
New American Oxford Dictionary
ducking stool
duck ing stool ▶noun historical a chair fastened to the end of a pole, used formerly to plunge offenders into a pond or river as a punishment.
Oxford Dictionary
ducking stool
duck |ing stool ▶noun historical a chair fastened to the end of a pole, used formerly to plunge offenders into a pond or river as a punishment.
The Wordsmith Dictionary