Paddle
['pæd(ə)l] or ['pædl]
Definition
(noun.) a short light oar used without an oarlock to propel a canoe or small boat.
(noun.) an instrument of punishment consisting of a flat board.
(noun.) a blade of a paddle wheel or water wheel.
(noun.) small wooden bat with a flat surface; used for hitting balls in various games.
(verb.) stir with a paddle.
(verb.) propel with a paddle; 'paddle your own canoe'.
(verb.) swim like a dog in shallow water.
Editor: Quentin--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To use the hands or fingers in toying; to make caressing strokes.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. t.) To pat or stroke amorously, or gently.
(v. t.) To propel with, or as with, a paddle or paddles.
(v. t.) To pad; to tread upon; to trample.
(v. i.) An implement with a broad blade, which is used without a fixed fulcrum in propelling and steering canoes and boats.
(v. i.) The broad part of a paddle, with which the stroke is made; hence, any short, broad blade, resembling that of a paddle.
(v. i.) One of the broad boards, or floats, at the circumference of a water wheel, or paddle wheel.
(v. i.) A small gate in sluices or lock gates to admit or let off water; -- also called clough.
(v. i.) A paddle-shaped foot, as of the sea turtle.
(v. i.) A paddle-shaped implement for string or mixing.
(v. i.) See Paddle staff (b), below.
Typed by Evangeline
Definition
v.i. to dabble in water with the hands or the feet: to touch or toy with the fingers: to beat the water as with the feet: to row: to move in the water as a duck does: (slang) to make off.—v.t. to move by means of an oar or paddle: to finger toy with.—n. a short broad spoon-shaped oar used for moving canoes: the blade of an oar: one of the boards at the circumference of a paddle-wheel.—ns. Padd′le-beam one of the large timbers at the side of a paddle-wheel; Padd′le-board one of the floats on the circumference of a paddle-wheel; Padd′le-box a wooden box covering the upper part of the paddle-wheel of a steamer; Padd′ler one who paddles; Padd′le-shaft the axle on which the paddle-wheels of a steamer turn; Padd′le-wheel the wheel of a steam-vessel which by turning in the water causes it to move forward; Padd′le-wood the light strong wood of a Guiana tree of the dogbane family.
n. (B.) a little spade.—n. Padd′le-staff a spade for clearing a ploughshare.
Edited by Greg
Examples
- Her hands lay on the paddle like slumber, she only wanted to see him, like a crystal shadow, to feel his essential presence. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The boat had a single paddle wheel in the middle near the stern, and was intended only for canal use, in the place of horses. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- No practical business man would erect a turbine or paddle wheel without calculating in advance the value of his water power. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Symington’s boat of 1788 (Patrick Miller’s pleasure boat) had side paddle wheels. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Fitch’s first boat employed a system of paddles suspended by their handles from cranks, which, in revolving, gave the paddles a motion simulating that which the Indian imparts to his paddle. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The engines and paddle wheels of the Adirondack are distinctly representative of the modern American side wheel steamer. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Of course, the horse power to be obtained from a stream determines the size of the paddle wheel or turbine which can be run by it. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I had worn out my boots paddling up office stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- And she paddled softly, lingeringly, longing for him to say something meaningful to her. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Gudrun paddled aimlessly here and there. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Two boats paddled near, their lanterns swinging ineffectually, the boats nosing round. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Gudrun paddled almost imperceptibly. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He watched her as she paddled away. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The paddles were placed in the middle of the boat, near the stern; and there was a double rudder, connected together by rods which were moved by a winch at the head of the vessel. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Fitch’s first boat employed a system of paddles suspended by their handles from cranks, which, in revolving, gave the paddles a motion simulating that which the Indian imparts to his paddle. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Bernouilli, Genevois, and the Marquis de Jouffroy used paddles on the duck’s foot principle, which closed when dragged forward, and expanded when pushed to the rear. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The little pleasure-launch was fussing out from the shore, twanging its music, crowded with people, flapping its paddles. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He had rejected the plan of using paddles or oars, and also of forcing water out of the stern of the vessel, and had retained the idea of the paddle-wheel. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- The wash of her paddles grew duller. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The next day I sailed to another island, and thence to a third and fourth, sometimes using my sail, and sometimes my paddles. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
Edited by Aaron