Paddle Definition
pădl
paddled, paddles, paddling
noun
paddles
A usually wooden implement having a blade at one end or sometimes at both ends, used without an oarlock to propel a canoe or small boat.
American Heritage
Any of various implements resembling the paddle of a boat or canoe, as:
American Heritage
A flat electrode that is part of a defibrillator and is put on a patient's chest to deliver an electric shock to the heart.
American Heritage Medicine
A board on a paddle wheel.
American Heritage
A flipper or flattened appendage of certain animals.
American Heritage Medicine
Synonyms:
- boat paddle
- sweep
- oar
- pole
- scull
- paddle-wheel
verb
paddled, paddles, paddling
To propel (a canoe, etc.) by means of a paddle or paddles.
Webster's New World
To move the hands or feet about in the water, as in playing; dabble.
Webster's New World
To move with a waddling motion; toddle.
American Heritage
To row slowly and gently.
American Heritage
To propel a canoe, etc. by means of a paddle.
Webster's New World
idiom
paddle one's own canoe
- to depend entirely on oneself
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Paddle
Origin of Paddle
-
Recorded since 1530, probably cognate with Low German paddeln "to tramp about," frequent. of padjen "to tramp, to run in short steps," from pad (also in Dutch dialects)
From Wiktionary
-
From Old English padell (1407, "small spade"), from Medieval Latin padela, perhaps from Latin patella "pan, plate", the diminutive of patina
From Wiktionary
Middle English padell tool used to clean plowshares perhaps from Medieval Latin padela
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Perhaps of Low German origin
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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