willow

[wil-oh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR willow ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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

Related formswil·low·like, adjectivewil·low·ish, adjective

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

Related Words for willow

olive, blue-green, fir, sap, jade, sage, moss, pine, forest, sea, grass, peacock, apple, spinach, willow, verdigris, malachite, beryl, chartreuse, kelly

Examples from the Web for willow

Contemporary Examples of willow

My wife (Susie Hariet) was pregnant with our second child (they have two children, daughter Willow, 4, and son Aubrey, 2).
Dan Stevens Blows Up ‘Downton’: From Chubby-Cheeked Aristo to Lean, Mean American Psycho
Tim Teeman
September 19, 2014
A few feet from where we sit is the sawed-off stump of a third willow.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial
Ivan Solotaroff
June 28, 2014
Two feet from the sawed-off stump of a third willow is the small foot-pump carousel Ray was sitting on when he shot himself.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial
Ivan Solotaroff
June 28, 2014
The former VP candidate looked rail thin as she ran errands with her daughter Willow in Studio City.
Sarah Palin Debuts Makeover in Los Angeles Looks Scary Thin and Dyed Hair
Isabel Wilkinson
October 10, 2012
The Queen now owns just two Corgis: Willow and Holly and two Dorgis: Candy and Vulcan.
Queen's James Bond Clip Corgi Dies, Buried at Balmoral
Tom Sykes
September 10, 2012

Historical Examples of willow

There is only one, opposite, at the foot of the first willow.
Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille
Emile Zola
And the rest of the journey to Willow Bluff was made almost in silence.
The Night Riders
Ridgwell Cullum
The oak mentioned in this poem is gone, and a willow takes its place.
Whittier-land
Samuel T. Pickard
Jacob skinned them willow sticks, and skinned the old man, too.
The Flockmaster of Poison Creek
George W. Ogden
That green strip of willow is the edge of a quicksand where no one knows the depth.
The Treasure Trail
Marah Ellis Ryan

British Dictionary definitions for willow

willow

noun

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

Derived Formswillowish or willow-like, adjective

Word Origin for willow

Old English welig; related to wilige wicker basket, Old Saxon wilgia, Middle High German wilge, Greek helikē willow, helix twisted

Willow

noun

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for willow

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.