wattle

(wät'l)

noun

  1. a sort of woven work made of sticks intertwined with twigs or branches, used for walls, fences, and roofs
  2. Brit., Dialectal
    1. a stick, rod, twig, or wand
    2. a hurdle or framework made of sticks, rods, etc.
  3. rods or poles used as the support of a thatched roof
  4. Austral. any of various acacias: the flexible branches were much used by early settlers for making wattles
  5. a fleshy, wrinkled, often brightly colored piece of skin which hangs from the chin or throat of certain birds, as the turkey, or of some lizards
  6. a barbel of a fish
  7. a fold or pouch of flesh hanging from the neck or lower part of the jaw

Origin: ME wattel < OE watul, a hurdle, woven twigs < ? IE *wedh-, to knit, bind < base *(a)we- > weave

adjective

made of or roofed with wattle or wattles

transitive verb wattled, wattling

  1. to twist or intertwine (sticks, twigs, branches, etc.) so as to form an interwoven structure or fabric
  2. to construct (a fence) by intertwining sticks or twigs
  3. to build of, or roof, fence, etc. with, wattle

See wattle in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. a. A construction of poles intertwined with twigs, reeds, or branches, used for walls, fences, and roofs.
    b. Material used for such construction.
  2. A fleshy, wrinkled, often brightly colored fold of skin hanging from the neck or throat, characteristic of certain birds, such as chickens or turkeys, and some lizards.
  3. Botany Any of various Australian trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.
transitive verb wat·tled, wat·tling, wat·tles
  1. To construct from wattle.
  2. To weave into wattle.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English wattel

Origin: , from Old English watel, hurdle

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Related Forms:

  • watˈtled adjective

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