wicker
Americannoun
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a slender, pliant twig; osier; withe.
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plaited or woven twigs or osiers as the material of baskets, chairs, etc.; wickerwork.
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something made of wickerwork, as a basket.
adjective
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consisting or made of wicker.
a wicker chair.
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covered with wicker.
a wicker jug.
noun
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a slender flexible twig or shoot, esp of willow
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short for wickerwork
adjective
Etymology
Origin of wicker
1300–50; Middle English < Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish vikker willow. See weak
Explanation
Wicker, a natural material traditionally made from woven branches or reeds, is used for making baskets and lightweight furniture, like the wicker chairs on your patio. Your wicker laundry hamper may be made of rattan, a flexible, woody stem, or bamboo, a sturdy grass. The carefully woven seats of your antique chairs are wicker too. The material used to make them is known by this term, and so is the style and the specific technique of weaving. The word wicker, originally wickerwork, shares a root with Scandinavian words like the Swedish vika, "to bend."
Vocabulary lists containing wicker
The Odyssey
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Mississippi Trial, 1955
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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.
Think of it like a cornucopia: all the rich, colorful stuff is hidden beneath the wicker.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026
Their wicker man isn’t an object of punishment, like the one that made Nicolas Cage flail around screaming about bees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
"I think it was a lot to do with Alex in a wicker man costume, really," she told the BBC.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Every morning, her kids reach into a wicker basket of unsorted socks and pull out whatever two they grab.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
It was huge and dark brown with a wicker seat and back and large metal wheels rimmed in hard black rubber.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
