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paddle

Pronunciation: /ˈpædl̩/

The English word “paddle” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A single-bladed version is typically used on canoes and some other small boats.
  2. A double-bladed version with blades at each end of the shaft is used for kayaking.
  3. The use of a paddle to propel a boat; a session of paddling.
  4. A slat of a paddleboat's wheel.
  5. A paddlewheel.
  6. A blade of a waterwheel.
  7. A game controller with a round wheel used to control player movement along one axis of the video screen.
  8. A meandering walk or dabble through shallow water, especially at the seaside.
  9. A kitchen utensil shaped like a paddle and used for mixing, beating etc.
  10. A broad, flat spanking implement.
  11. A broad, flat device used in striking the ball, analogous to a racket in tennis.
  12. A flat board with a number of holes or indentations, used to carry small alcoholic drinks such as shots.
  13. A flat limb of an aquatic animal, adapted for swimming.
  14. In a sluice, a panel that controls the flow of water.
  15. A handheld electrode used for defibrillation or cardioversion.
  16. A flipper in a pinball machine.
  17. A person's hand.
  18. A flap of attached skin that has been cut away from a wound.

verb

  1. To propel something through water with a paddle, oar, hands, etc.
  2. To row a boat with less than one's full capacity.

Etymology

Partly from the verb paddle ("to splash, dabble"; see below) and partly from Middle English padell (“small spade”). Middle English padell is from Medieval Latin padela, itself of uncertain origin: perhaps an alteration of Middle English *spaddle (see also spaddle), a diminutive of spade; or from Latin patella (“pan, plate”), the diminutive of patina, or a merger of the two. Compare Ancient Greek…

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