English
wattle
Etymology

From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈwɒtl̩/
  • (America) enPR: wŏtʹl, IPA: /ˈwɑtl̩/, [ˈwɑ.ɾl̩]
Noun

wattle

  1. A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
    • 1874, Alfred Tennyson, “The Holy Grail”, in Idylls of the King (The Works of Alfred Tennyson; VI), cabinet edition, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], →OCLC ↗, page 104 ↗:
      And there the heathen Prince, Arviragus, / Gave him an isle of marsh whereon to build; / And there he built with wattles from the marsh / A little lonely church in days of yore, […]
  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.
    • 2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa:
      The buttons below his waddle open to reveal a ruddy V, tidemark of the sun.
  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.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

wattle (wattles, present participle wattling; simple past and past participle wattled)

  1. (transitive) To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.
  2. (transitive) To bind with wattles or twigs.


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