wattle

[ wot-l ]

/ ˈwɒt l /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wattle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Often wattles. a number of rods or stakes interwoven with twigs or tree branches for making fences, walls, etc.

wattles, a number of poles laid on a roof to hold thatch.

(in Australia) any of various acacias whose shoots and branches were used by the early colonists for wattles, now valued especially for their bark, which is used in tanning.

a fleshy lobe or appendage hanging down from the throat or chin of certain birds, as the domestic chicken or turkey.

verb (used with object), wat·tled, wat·tling.

to bind, wall, fence, etc., with wattle or wattles.

to roof or frame with or as if with wattles.

to form into a basketwork; interweave; interlace.

to make or construct by interweaving twigs or branches: to wattle a fence.

adjective

built or roofed with wattle or wattles.

RELATED WORDS

wall, roof, fence, gill

Nearby words

Origin of wattle

before 900; (noun) Middle English wattel, Old English watul covering, akin to wætla bandage; (v.) Middle English wattelen, derivative of the noun

Related formsun·wat·tled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wattle

These trade goods they kept in a storehouse made of wattle and daub.
Mrs. Warren's Daughter|Sir Harry Johnston
Candanga, met me in the path and gave me a welcome to his house of wattle and daub.
Stanley in Africa|James P. Boyd
A high stockade of posts and wattle shut off the view, but over it could be distinguished a thatched roof.
The Leopard Woman|Stewart Edward White
In the centre stood the misnamed guest house, a large mud and wattle building, with a veranda gone to decay.
The Pools of Silence|H. de Vere Stacpoole

On closer inspection, they were found to be wattle and daub houses, built in English style and whitewashed.
Stanley in Africa|James P. Boyd

British Dictionary definitions for wattle

wattle

/ (ˈwɒtəl) /

noun

a frame of rods or stakes interwoven with twigs, branches, etc, esp when used to make fences

the material used in such a construction

a loose fold of skin, often brightly coloured, hanging from the neck or throat of certain birds, lizards, etc

any of various chiefly Australian acacia trees having spikes of small brightly coloured flowers and flexible branches, which were used by early settlers for making fencesSee also golden wattle

a southern African caesalpinaceous tree, Peltophorum africanum, with yellow flowers

verb (tr)

to construct from wattle

to bind or frame with wattle

to weave or twist (branches, twigs, etc) into a frame

adjective

made of, formed by, or covered with wattle

Derived Formswattled, adjective

Word Origin for wattle

Old English watol; related to wethel wrap, Old High German wadal, German Wedel

adjective

Midland English dialect of poor quality

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wattle

wattle

n.2

"fleshy appendage below the neck of certain birds," 1510s (extended jocularly to human beings, 1560s), of uncertain origin and of doubtful relationship to wattle (n.1).

wattle

n.1

"stakes interlaced with twigs and forming the framework of the wall of a building," Old English watol "hurdle," in plural "twigs, thatching, tiles," related to weðel "bandage," of unknown origin. Surviving in wattle-and-daub "building material for huts, etc." (1808).

wattle

noun

verb (used with object), wat·tled, wat·tling.

adjective

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of wattle

Examples from the Web for wattle

wattle

noun

verb (tr)

adjective

Word Origin for wattle

adjective

wattle

wattle