PADDLE

paddle, boat paddle

(noun) a short light oar used without an oarlock to propel a canoe or small boat

paddle

(noun) an instrument of punishment consisting of a flat board

paddle

(noun) a blade of a paddle wheel or water wheel

paddle

(noun) small wooden bat with a flat surface; used for hitting balls in various games

paddle

(verb) stir with a paddle

spank, paddle, larrup

(verb) give a spanking to; subject to a spanking

toddle, coggle, totter, dodder, paddle, waddle

(verb) walk unsteadily; “small children toddle”

paddle

(verb) propel with a paddle; “paddle your own canoe”

paddle

(verb) swim like a dog in shallow water

dabble, paddle, splash around

(verb) play in or as if in water, as of small children

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

paddle (plural paddles)

A two-handed, single-bladed oar used to propel a canoe or a small boat.

A double-bladed oar used for kayaking.

Time spent on paddling.

A slat of a paddleboat's wheel.

A paddlewheel.

A blade of a waterwheel.

(video games, dated) A game controller with a round wheel used to control player movement along one axis of the video screen.

(British) A meandering walk or dabble through shallow water, especially at the seaside.

A kitchen utensil shaped like a paddle and used for mixing, beating etc.

A bat-shaped spanking implement

A ping-pong bat.

A flat limb of an aquatic animal, adapted for swimming.

In a sluice, a panel that controls the flow of water.

A group of inerts

A handheld defibrillation/cardioversion electrode

(slang) hand

padel (sport)

Verb

paddle (third-person singular simple present paddles, present participle paddling, simple past and past participle paddled)

(transitive) To propel something through water with a paddle, oar, hands, etc.

(intransitive) To row a boat with less than one's full capacity.

(transitive) To spank with a paddle.

To pat or stroke amorously or gently.

To tread upon; to trample.

Etymology 2

Verb

paddle (third-person singular simple present paddles, present participle paddling, simple past and past participle paddled)

(intransitive, British) To walk or dabble playfully in shallow water, especially at the seaside.

To toddle.

(archaic, intransitive) To toy or caress using hands or fingers.

Source: Wiktionary


Pad"dle, v. i. Etym: [Prob. for pattle, and a dim. of pat, v.; cf. also E. pad to tread, Prov. G. paddeln, padden, to walk with short steps, to paddle, G. patschen to splash, dash, dabble, F. patouiller to dabble, splash, fr. patte a paw.

1. To use the hands or fingers in toying; to make caressing strokes. [Obs.] Shak.

2. To dabble in water with hands or feet; to use a paddle, or something which serves as a paddle, in swimming, in paddling a boat, etc. As the men were paddling for their lives. L'Estrange. While paddling ducks the standing lake desire. Gay.

Pad"dle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Paddled; p. pr. & vb. n. Paddling]

1. To pat or stroke amorously, or gently. To be paddling palms and pinching fingers. Shak.

2. To propel with, or as with, a paddle or paddles.

3. To pad; to tread upon; to trample. [Prov. Eng.]

Pad"dle, n. Etym: [See Paddle, v. i.]

1. An implement with a broad blade, which is used without a fixed fulcrum in propelling and steering canoes and boats.

2. The broad part of a paddle, with which the stroke is made; hence, any short, broad blade, resembling that of a paddle. Thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon. Deut. xxiii. 13.

3. One of the broad boards, or floats, at the circumference of a water wheel, or paddle wheel.

4. A small gate in sluices or lock gates to admit or let off water; - - also called clough.

5. (Zoöl.)

Definition: A paddle-shaped foot, as of the sea turtle.

6. A paddle-shaped implement for string or mixing.

7. Etym: [In this sense prob. for older spaddle, a dim. of spade.]

Definition: See Paddle staff (b), below. [Prov. Eng.] Paddle beam (Shipbuilding), one of two large timbers supporting the spring beam and paddle box of a steam vessel.

– Paddle board. See Paddle, n., 3.

– Paddle box, the structure inclosing the upper part of the paddle wheel of a steam vessel.

– Paddle shaft, the revolving shaft which carries the paddle wheel of a steam vessel.

– Paddle staff. (a) A staff tipped with a broad blade, used by mole catchers. [Prov. Eng.] (b) A long-handled spade used to clean a plowshare; -- called also plow staff. [Prov. Eng.] -- Paddle steamer, a steam vessel propelled by paddle wheels, in distinction from a screw propeller.

– Paddle wheel, the propelling wheel of a steam vessel, having paddles (or floats) on its circumference, and revolving in a vertical plane parallel to the vessel's length.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

22 February 2025

ANALYSIS

(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

There are more than 50 countries that export coffee. They are near the equator, where the climate is conducive to producing coffee beans.

coffee icon