Adjacent Words

Paddle definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PAD'DLE, v.i. [L. pes,pedis,the foot, and this is allied to Gr., to tread.]
1. To row; to beat the water, as with oars.
2. To play in the water with the hands, as children; or with the feet, as fowls or other animals.
3. To finger.
PAD'DLE, v.t. To propel by an oar or paddle.
PAD'DLE, n. [In L. batillus is a paddle-staff; in Gr. a pole.]
1. An oar, but not a large oar. It is now applied to a sort of short oar used in propelling and steering canoes and boats.
2. The blade or the broad part of an oar or weapon.
Thou shalt have a paddle on thy weapon. Deutoronomy 23.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: small wooden bat with a flat surface; used for hitting balls in various games
2: a blade of a paddle wheel or water wheel
3: an instrument of punishment consisting of a flat board
4: a short light oar used without an oarlock to propel a canoe or small boat [syn: paddle, boat paddle] v
1: propel with a paddle; "paddle your own canoe"
2: play in or as if in water, as of small children [syn: dabble, paddle, splash around]
3: swim like a dog in shallow water
4: walk unsteadily; "small children toddle" [syn: toddle, coggle, totter, dodder, paddle, waddle]
5: give a spanking to; subject to a spanking [syn: spank, paddle, larrup]
6: stir with a paddle

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb (paddled; paddling) Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1530 1. to move the hands or feet about in shallow water 2. archaic to use the hands or fingers in toying or caressing 3. toddle • paddler noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English padell spade-shaped tool for cleaning a plow Date: 1624 1. a. a usually wooden implement that has a long handle and a broad flattened blade and that is used to propel and steer a small craft (as a canoe) b. an implement often with a short handle and a broad flat blade that is used for stirring, mixing, or hitting; especially one used to hit a ball in any of various games (as table tennis) c. a small usually numbered sign that is raised by a bidder at an auction to signal a bid d. a flat electrode that is the part of a defibrillator placed on the chest of a patient and through which a shock of electricity is discharged 2. a. any of the broad boards at the circumference of a paddle wheel or waterwheel b. any of the broad blades attached to a shaft (as in an ice cream machine) and used for stirring 3. a computer input device with a dial used to control linear movement of a cursor on a computer display III. verb (paddled; paddling) Date: 1677 intransitive verb to go on or through water by or as if by means of a paddle or paddle wheel transitive verb 1. a. to propel by a paddle b. to transport in a paddled craft <paddled us to shore in his canoe> 2. a. to beat or stir with or as if with a paddle (as in washing or dyeing) b. to punish by or as if by beating with a paddle • paddler noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a short broad-bladed oar used without a rowlock. 2 a paddle-shaped instrument. 3 Zool. a fin or flipper. 4 each of the boards fitted round the circumference of a paddle-wheel or mill-wheel. 5 the action or a spell of paddling. --v. 1 intr. & tr. move on water or propel a boat by means of paddles. 2 intr. & tr. row gently. 3 tr. esp. US colloq. spank. Phrases and idioms: paddle-boat (or -steamer etc.) a boat, steamer, etc., propelled by a paddle-wheel. paddle-wheel a wheel for propelling a ship, with boards round the circumference so as to press backwards against the water. Derivatives: paddler n. Etymology: 15th c.: orig. unkn. 2. v. & n. --v.intr. walk barefoot or dabble the feet or hands in shallow water. --n. the action or a spell of paddling. Derivatives: paddler n. Etymology: prob. of LG or Du. orig.: cf. LG paddeln tramp about

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Paddle Pad"dle, v. i. [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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Paddle 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.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Paddle Pad"dle, n. [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. (Zo["o]l.) A paddle-shaped foot, as of the sea turtle. 6. A paddle-shaped implement for string or mixing. 7. [In this sense prob. for older spaddle, a dim. of spade.] 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(paddles, paddling, paddled) 1. A paddle is a short pole with a wide flat part at one end or at both ends. You hold it in your hands and use it as an oar to move a small boat through water. We might be able to push ourselves across with the paddle. N-COUNT 2. If you paddle a boat, you move it through water using a paddle. ...the skills you will use to paddle the canoe. ...paddling around the South Pacific in a kayak. VERB: V n, V prep/adv 3. If you paddle, you walk or stand in shallow water, for example at the edge of the sea, for pleasure. Wear sandals when you paddle. ...a lovely little stream that you can paddle in. VERB: V, V prep • Paddle is also a noun. Ruth enjoyed her paddle. N-SING

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pad'-'-l (yathedh): De 23:13 (Hebrew 14), the Revised Version margin "shovel."

Moby Thesaurus

agitate, agitator, amble, asperge, barge, beat, beat up, beater, bedew, bespatter, besprinkle, birch, bowl along, bundle, cane, catch a crab, churn, churn up, club, clump, convulse, cut a crab, dabble, damp, dampen, dash, dew, disarrange, discompose, disquiet, disturb, douche, drag, dress down, droop, eggbeater, excite, feather, feather an oar, ferment, ferule, flax, flog, flounce, flurry, foot, footslog, fret, gait, gallop, give a dressing-down, give way, halt, hide, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hop, hose, hose down, humect, humectate, humidify, irrigate, jiggler, jog, jolt, jump, larrup, lather, leather, lick, limp, lock step, lumber, lunge, lurch, mince, mincing steps, moisten, oar, pace, pandybat, peg, perturb, perturbate, piaffe, piaffer, plod, ply the oar, pole, prance, pull, punt, rack, rattan, rile, ripple, rod, roil, roll, roughen, row, row away, row dry, ruffle, ruler, rumple, sashay, saunter, scuff, scuffle, scull, scuttle, shake, shake up, shaker, shamble, ship oars, shoot, shuffle, sidle, single-foot, skip, sky an oar, slink, slither, slobber, slog, slop, slosh, slouch, slowness, spank, sparge, spatter, splash, splatter, sponge, spray, sprinkle, stagger, stalk, stamp, steering oar, step, stick, stir, stir up, stomp, straddle, straggle, stride, stroll, strolling gait, strut, stump, swagger, swash, sweep, swing, swirl, switch, syringe, tan, thrash, tittup, toddle, totter, traipse, tread, trim, trip, trot, trouble, trudge, upset, velocity, vibrator, waddle, wade, walk, wallop, wamble, water, welt, wet, wet down, whale, whip, whip up, whisk, wiggle, wobble, work up