willy

¹

Or wil·ley

[wil-ee]

noun

plural

willies 

1. willow.

verb (used with object)

willied, willying 

1. to willow (textile fibers).

Willy

²

[wil-ee]

noun

1. a male given name, form of William.

2. a female given name.

willy

³

[wil-ee]

noun

Chiefly British Slang.

plural

willies 

1. penis.

willy

/ ˈwɪlɪ /

noun

1. informal,  a childish or jocular term for penis

Word History and Origins

Origin of willy¹

First recorded in 1825–35; special use of dialect willy, Old English wilige “basket” (originally one made of willow twigs); akin to willow

Origin of willy²

First recorded in 1900–05; possibly from Willy ( def. )

Example Sentences

Matthews was key in dreaming up the “Willy Wonka” touches, said S.G.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Terry used the phrase Tuesday in his introduction to a resuscitation of 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” which debuts this week at Inglewood’s Cosm with modern, CGI animation, aiming to emphasize the whimsy and childlike wonder of the Gene Wilder picture.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Ohio-born actor’s take on Linda Loman, the wife of Brian Dennehy’s Willy Loman, in the 50th anniversary production of “Death of a Salesman,” was a departure from the character’s usual defeated energy that took even playwright Miller by surprise: “She has discovered in the role the basic underlying powerful protectiveness, which comes out as fury, and that in the past, in every performance I know of, was simply washed out,” Miller said in a 1999 interview with the New York Times.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Consider buddleboy, bogeyman, bumboat man, flirter, higgler, pugger, muffleman, quarrel picker, spittle-maker, whiff-maker and willy man.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

One was a ranch house once owned by legendary Willy Wonka actor Gene Wilder.

Read more on BBC