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wattle Definition

wat·tle (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

Etymology: 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 -·tled, -·tling

  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

wattle Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • make: It furnishes rods wherewith to make fences; but its principal use is to make wattles for the folding of sheep in the fields.
  • have: Both the male and female have long yellow facial wattles as well as smaller red ones on the forehead.
  • build: A wattle built across a stream to retain fish ( 4 ) 16.
  • do: After dinner we split into groups and we did wattle and daub and bread making and basket weaving.
  • weave: The walls are of stake construction with hazel wattle woven round them.
  • expose: The building dates to the early 18th century and has exposed wattle and daub.

Adjective modifier

  • red: The face is smooth and they have small smooth red wattles and earlobes.
  • black: The black facial wattles are just starting to develop.
  • original: The present day Crown Hotel was built after the Great Fire but you can still see the original wattle and daub construction.
  • small: The head is large and crested with a short beak, leaf type comb, muffled face, small rounded wattles and earlobes.
  • long: The eyes are dark brown and they have a single bright red comb, long wattles and ear lobes.
  • hazel: The walls are of stake construction with hazel wattle woven round them.

Modifies a noun

  • hurdle: More attractive ones can be made from wattle hurdles or woven branches.
  • fence: Finally a wattle fence was built on top of the bank.
  • church: In two years, enough money had been raised to build the Lady Chapel on the site of the wattle church.
  • wall: All the timber in the barn, including the wattle walls, is oak.
  • panel: Detail of a wattle panel on a disused cellar building.
  • fencing: The outer field boundaries were either wattle fencing or live hedges.