English Explanatory Dictionary

wattle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
  2. A single twig or rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.
  3. A wrinkled fold of skin, sometimes brightly coloured, hanging from the neck of birds (such as chicken and turkey) and some lizards.
  4. A barbel of a fish.
  5. A decorative fleshy appendage on the neck of a goat.
  6. Loose hanging skin in the neck of a person.
  7. Any of several Australian trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia, or their bark, used in tanning, seen as a national emblem of Australia.
  8. An ear (organ of hearing).
verb
  1. To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.
  2. To bind with wattles or twigs.

Pronunciation

/ˈwɒtl̩/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wattle.wav wŏtʹl /ˈwɑtl̩/ [ˈwɑ.ɾl̩]

Word forms

wattle wattles wattling wattled

Etymology

From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).

Derived words

black wattle chinchilla wattle cinnamon wattle climbing wattle Cootamundra wattle golden wattle hickory wattle pinbush wattle sallee wattle savannah wattle savanna wattle silver wattle spurwing wattle sunshine wattle wattle and daub wattle bagworm wattlebird wattle-eye Wattle Glen Wattle Ponds Wattle Range wattle turkey
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