paddle
1 Americannoun
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a short, flat bladed oar for propelling and steering a canoe or small boat, usually held by both hands and moved more or less through a vertical arc.
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any of various similar implements used for mixing, stirring, or beating.
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any of various similar but smaller implements with a short handle for holding in one hand and a wide or rounded blade, used for a racket in table tennis, paddle tennis, etc.
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such an implement or a similarly shaped makeshift one, used to spank or beat someone.
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an implement used for beating garments while washing them in running water, as in a stream.
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Also called float, floatboard. a blade of a paddle wheel.
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any of the blades by which a water wheel is turned.
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a flipper or limb of a penguin, turtle, whale, etc.
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an act of paddling.
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British Dialect. Also pattle a small spade with a long handle, used to dig up thistles.
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(in a gate of a lock or sluice) a panel that slides to permit the passage of water.
verb (used without object)
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to propel or travel in a canoe or the like by using a paddle.
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to row lightly or gently with oars.
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to move by means of paddle wheels, as a steamer.
verb (used with object)
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to propel with a paddle.
to paddle a canoe.
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to spank or beat with or as with a paddle.
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to stir, mix, or beat with or as with a paddle
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to convey by paddling, as a canoe.
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to hit (a table-tennis ball or the like) with a paddle.
idioms
verb (used without object)
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to move the feet or hands playfully in shallow water; dabble.
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to toy with the fingers.
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to toddle.
noun
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a short light oar with a flat blade at one or both ends, used without a rowlock to propel a canoe or small boat
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Also called: float. a blade of a water wheel or paddle wheel
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a period of paddling
to go for a paddle upstream
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a paddle wheel used to propel a boat
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( as modifier )
a paddle steamer
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the sliding panel in a lock or sluicegate that regulates the level or flow of water
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any of various instruments shaped like a paddle and used for beating, mixing, etc
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a table-tennis bat
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the flattened limb of a seal, turtle, or similar aquatic animal, specialized for swimming
verb
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to propel (a canoe, small boat, etc) with a paddle
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to be self-sufficient
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to mind one's own business
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(tr) to convey by paddling
we paddled him to the shore
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(tr) to stir or mix with or as if with a paddle
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to row (a boat) steadily, esp (of a racing crew) to row firmly but not at full pressure
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(intr) (of steamships) to be propelled by paddle wheels
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(intr) to swim with short rapid strokes, like a dog
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informal (tr) to spank
verb
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to walk or play barefoot in shallow water, mud, etc
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to dabble the fingers, hands, or feet in water
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to walk unsteadily, like a baby
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archaic (tr) to fondle with the fingers
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of paddle1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English noun padell “long-handled spade”; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Medieval Latin padela, padule
Origin of paddle2
First recorded in 1520–30; origin uncertain; perhaps from Low German paddeln “to tramp about”
Explanation
If you regularly ride around in a canoe, you’re undoubtedly already familiar with a paddle, a pole with a broad, flat end that is used to propel a boat forward. Nautical types will already know that the noun form of the word paddle refers to an implement with a flat blade used to move a boat through the water. The word can also be used to describe items with a similar look, such as a paddle used in table tennis or certain kinds of video games. The verb form of paddle refers to the action of navigating through the water, either in a boat using a paddle or as a swimmer who used the hands and feet to move around in shallow water.
Vocabulary lists containing paddle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On Thursday, the beachside felt calm as a woman was leisurely paddle boarding in the shallows while children played on the beach.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
On the park's website, the authority said visitors must not enter the water at any time, which includes using kayaks, canoes, paddle boards and dinghies.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
If the Labour Party is up the creek without a paddle after last week, to revert to Yank lingo, it also finds itself in an anomalous position.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
The paddle craze of the decade has bountiful benefits for people living with the neurodegenerative disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
I watched the two paddle away together, into the darkness, into the night.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
German media have broadcast the hapless creature lying motionless in shallow water for hours on end, with men in diving suits splashing water on it using kayak paddles.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
The beach is not one from which a surfer paddles out on his or her board, or escapes without being tossed about as if by a washing machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
That was our ritual — sometimes four of us, sometimes six or seven, paddles rotating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
As Sobie spoke to the BBC, canoes - steered with paddles or long bamboo poles - moved through the narrow waterways, carrying mattresses and sacks of clothes belonging to the displaced people.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
The men in the other canoes looked up, startled, and then they dug their paddles into the sea and raced toward Kino’s canoe.
From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
A few children splashed in the shallows as the surfers paddled out to sea, fighting the crashing waves.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
We chose a tandem canoe and paddled our way up and down the river, watching the wildlife and soaking up the sun.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
Surfers and swimmers on Friday paddled out beyond Bondi's iconic breaks to honour those who died.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2025
Exploiting a series of portages linking Lake Michigan and local rivers, they paddled their canoes from Canada’s Atlantic shore to the Gulf of Mexico and as far west as the Rocky Mountains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
“I’ve never paddled a boat before,” Florida said.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
Several private schools in Ohio and Virginia permit paddling as discipline even though those states outlaw corporal punishment in public schools.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
The restrictions mean hosepipes should not be used for watering gardens, washing cars, allotments, filling paddling pools or swimming pools, or cleaning windows.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Beneath the surface, though, investors are paddling furiously to navigate shifting financial currents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Newman also said snapping turtles would be unlikely to bite humans paddling in the water, but would target mammals living there such as water voles.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
While the raft followed the current well, because the logs stuck down into the water and were not streamlined, for the same reason it moved with the paddling horribly.
From "The River" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
