willow
[wil-oh]
- any tree or shrub of the genus Salix, characterized by narrow, lance-shaped leaves and dense catkins bearing small flowers, many species having tough, pliable twigs or branches used for wickerwork, etc.Compare willow family.
- the wood of any of these trees.
- Informal. something, especially a cricket bat, made of willow wood.
- Also called willower, willy. a machine consisting essentially of a cylinder armed with spikes revolving within a spiked casing, for opening and cleaning cotton or other fiber.
- to treat (textile fibers) with a willow.
Origin of willow
before 900; Middle English wilwe, variant of wilghe, Old English welig; cognate with Old Saxon wilgia, Dutch wilg, Low German wilge
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for willowing
Historical Examples
The bundles of grass are opened up, shaken out, and put through a willowing machine.
The Manufacture of PaperRobert Walter Sindall
The order of the manufacturing processes is as follows:—mixing, willowing, teasing, scribbling and carding.
willow
- any of numerous salicaceous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix, such as the weeping willow and osiers of N temperate regions, which have graceful flexible branches, flowers in catkins, and feathery seeds
- the whitish wood of certain of these trees
- something made of willow wood, such as a cricket or baseball bat
- a machine having a system of revolving spikes for opening and cleaning raw textile fibres
Word Origin
Old English welig; related to wilige wicker basket, Old Saxon wilgia, Middle High German wilge, Greek helikē willow, helix twisted
Willow
- a small town in S Alaska, about 113 km (70 miles) northwest of Anchorage: chosen as the site of the projected new state capital in 1976, a plan which never came to fruition. Pop: 1658 (2000)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for willowing
willow
n.
Old English welig, from Proto-Germanic *walg- (cf. Old Saxon wilgia, Middle Dutch wilghe, Dutch wilg), probably from PIE *wel- "to turn, roll," with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects. The change in form to -ow (14c.) paralleled that of bellow and fellow. The more typical Germanic word for the tree is represented by withy.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper