paddle
/ˈpædl̩/US[ˈpʰæ.ɾɫ̩]
paddle noun: a single-bladed version is typically used on canoes and some other small boats. Also the alternative form of padel.
Noun
paddle (countable and uncountable, plural paddles)
- A single-bladed version is typically used on canoes and some other small boats.
- A double-bladed version with blades at each end of the shaft is used for kayaking.
- The use of a paddle to propel a boat; a session of paddling.
- We had a nice paddle this morning.
- I managed one mighty paddle of 38km up the coast to Wicklow before the next bloody storm was due to hit.2021, Jordan Wylie, The Power of the Paddle
- A slat of a paddleboat's wheel.
- A paddlewheel.
- A blade of a waterwheel.
- A game controller with a round wheel used to control player movement along one axis of the video screen.
- A meandering walk or dabble through shallow water, especially at the seaside.
- A kitchen utensil shaped like a paddle and used for mixing, beating etc.
- A broad, flat spanking implement.
- The paddle practically ousted the British cane for spankings in the independent US.
- A broad, flat device used in striking the ball, analogous to a racket in tennis.
- (UK)
- A flat board with a number of holes or indentations, used to carry small alcoholic drinks such as shots.
- And it really is a paddle, too, with a blade big enough to hold several sampling glasses of different beers (known for some reason as a 'flight') for customers to try. Beer paddles have become very popular in American craft beer bars: […]2019, Ted Bruning, The Bar Owners' Handbook, page 111
Show 6 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
- A flat limb of an aquatic animal, adapted for swimming.
- A sea turtle's paddles make it swim almost as fast as land tortoises are slow.
- In a sluice, a panel that controls the flow of water.
- A handheld electrode used for defibrillation or cardioversion.
- A flipper in a pinball machine.
- A person's hand.
- A flap of attached skin that has been cut away from a wound.
- A large ( 13 x 25 cm ) paddle of skin was used to cover a large wound following a temporal bone resection.2009, Berish Strauch, Luis O. Vasconez, M.d., Elizabeth J. Hall-Findlay, Grabb's Encyclopedia of Flaps - Volume 1, page 373
- About 10% of perforators to the skin paddle of the flap are septocutaneous blood vessels that travel though the intermuscular septum that separates the rectus femoris muscle from the vastus lateralis muscle.2012, Mark L. Urken, Mack L. Cheney, Keith E. Blackwell, Atlas of Regional and Free Flaps for Head and Neck Reconstruction, page 235
Verb (1)
paddle (third-person singular simple present paddles, present participle paddling, simple past and past participle paddled)
- To propel something through water with a paddle, oar, hands, etc.
- as the Men were Paddling for their Lives1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
- while paddling ducks the standing lake desire1714, J[ohn] Gay, “(please specify the page number(s))”, in The Shepherd’s Week. In Six Pastorals, London: […] R. Burleigh […], →OCLC
- To row a boat with less than one's full capacity.
- To spank with a paddle.
- Do you think we'll get paddled? They can't paddle me! I'm a girl!!1986 January 15, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic)
- To pat or stroke amorously or gently.
- to be paddling palms and pinching fingers.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- To tread upon; to trample.
Verb (2)
paddle (third-person singular simple present paddles, present participle paddling, simple past and past participle paddled)
Proper noun capitalized: Paddle
Paddle
- A surname.
Also used as
paddle is also the alternative form of padel.
paddle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
paddle in Hindi
- two-handed, single-bladed oar
- चप्पू cappū, पतवार patvār
- double-bladed oar used for kayaking
- पतवार patvār, चप्पू cappū
paddle in Tamil
- துடுப்பு, துடுப்பு போடுவதற்கு
paddle in Marathi
- पॅडल, पाॅडल, पॅडल करण्यासाठी
paddle in Urdu
- پاڈل, پیڈل کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
- paddle in Bengali
- প্যাডেল, প্যাডল, প্যাডেল করতে
- paddle in Telugu
- తెడ్డు, ప్యాడిల్
- paddle in Malayalam
- പങ്കായം paṅkāyaṁ, തുഴ tuḻa
- paddle in Kannada
- ಪ್ಯಾಡಲ್, ಪ್ಯಾಡೆಲ್, ಪ್ಯಾಡಲ್ ಮಾಡಲು
- paddle in Punjabi
- ਪੈਡਲ, ਪੈਡਲ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ, ਪੈਡਲ ਕਰਨਾ
- paddle in Gujarati
- પેડલ
- paddle in Odia
- ପାଡେଲ୍, ପ୍ଯ଼ାଡେଲ୍, ପ୍ଯ଼ାଡେଲ
- paddle in Nepali
- प्याडल, पाडल, प्याडल गर्न
- paddle in Arabic
- مِجْدَاف mijdāf, مِضْرَب miḍrab, جَدَّفَ jaddafa
- paddle in Indonesian
- kayuh, dayung
- paddle in Thai
- ไม้พาย mái-paai, พาย paai
- paddle in Vietnamese
- chèo
Examples of paddle in a sentence
- He got in trouble and so I grabbed a rescue board, paddled out and grabbed him.
- We paddled under a canopy of trees through the slough.
- We spent the day paddling downstream in our canoes.
Synonyms of paddle
Forms of paddle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | paddles |
| alternative form | paidle |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | paddles |
| present participle | paddling |
| past participle | paddled |
| past | paddled |
Origin of paddle
Partly from the verb paddle ("to splash, dabble"; see below) and partly from Middle English padell (“small spade”). Middle English padell is from Medieval Latin padela, itself of uncertain origin: perhaps an alteration of Middle English *spaddle (see also spaddle), a diminutive of spade; or from Latin patella (“pan, plate”), the diminutive of patina, or a merger of the two. Compare Ancient Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder, steering oar”), derived from πηδόν (pēdón, “the blade of an oar; an oar”).
Recorded since 1530, probably cognate with Low German paddeln (“to tramp about”), frequentative form of padjen (“to tramp, run in short steps”), from pad (also in Dutch dialects). Compare also Saterland Frisian paddelje (“to paddle”).
Words formed from paddle
- beer paddle
- butter paddle
- cactus paddle
- doggie paddle
- doggy paddle
- doggy-paddle
- dog paddle
- dog-paddle
- paddleball
- paddle board
- paddleboard
- paddle boat
- paddleboat
- paddlebox
- paddle box
- paddlecraft
- paddlefish
- paddlefoot
- paddleful
- paddle grass
- paddleless
- paddlelike
- paddle-out
- paddle pop
- paddler
- paddle scoop
- paddle shifter
- paddlesport
- paddle-staff
- paddle steamer
- paddle-tailed newt
- paddle tennis
- paddlewheel
- paddle wheel
- paddle wheeler
- paddlewood
- paddling
- paddlogaine
- pizza paddle
- plough paddle
- rice paddle
- shock paddle
- sneak paddle
- traffic paddle
- up a creek without a paddle
- up shit creek without a paddle
- up shit's creek without a paddle
- up the creek without a paddle
- washing paddle
- backpaddle
- knee-paddle
- mispaddle
- paddleable
- paddle one's own canoe
- paddling pool
Phrases with paddle
Words that rhyme with paddle
Questions about paddle
- What does paddle mean?
- Paddle means a single-bladed version is typically used on canoes and some other small boats.
- What is paddle in Hindi?
- Paddle in Hindi is चप्पू (cappū), पतवार (patvār). See Paddle meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is paddle?
- Paddle can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce paddle?
- Paddle is pronounced /ˈpædl̩/.
- What is the plural of paddle?
- The plural of paddle is paddles.
Words near paddle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: paddle (page history and authors); Paddle (page history and authors); paddle (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddle (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-paddle.ogg.
Cite this entry: “paddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.