Word.ws English Dictionary

paddock

Syllables: pad·dockUK/ˈpædək/US/ˈpædək/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

paddock noun: a small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.

Noun (1)

paddock (plural paddocks)

  1. (also, figuratively) A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
    • Upon this information, they instantly passed through the hall once more, and ran across the lawn after their father, who was deliberately pursuing his way towards a small wood on one side of the paddock.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 126
    • A jargonell pear tree at one end of the cottage, a rivulet, and flower-plot of a rood in extent, in front, and a kitchen-garden behind; a paddock for a cow, and a small field, cultivated with several crops of grain rather for the benefit of the cottager than for sale, announced the warm and cordial...1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Rob Roy. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees...
  2. (broadly) An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race.
    • We left the carriage, bought programmes, and walked across the infield and then across the smooth thick turf of the course to the paddock. […] The paddock was fairly well filled with people and they were walking the horses around in a ring under the trees behind the grand stand.1929 May–October, Ernest Hemingway, chapter 20, in A Farewell to Arms, 1st British edition, London: Jonathan Cape […], published 1929, →OCLC, book II, page 138
    • You remind me of a two-year-old, Dinny—one of those whipcordy chestnuts that kick up their heels in the paddock, get left at the post, and come in first after all.1931 November, John Galsworthy, chapter XXIV, in Maid in Waiting, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: The Ryerson Press, published 1931, →OCLC, page 211
  3. (broadly) An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles are parked and worked on before and between races.
  4. (broadly, slang) A field on which a game is played; a playing field.
  5. (Australia, New Zealand, broadly) A field of grassland of any size, either enclosed by fences or delimited by geographical boundaries, especially a large area for keeping cattle or sheep.
  6. (Australia, New Zealand, broadly) A place in a superficial deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc.

Verb

paddock (third-person singular simple present paddocks, present participle paddocking, simple past and past participle paddocked)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, transitive, often passive voice) To place or keep (cattle, horses, sheep, or other animals) within a paddock (noun sense 1 or 2.4); hence, to provide (such animals) with pasture.
    • In the district of which I am speaking the sheep are all "paddocked," —that is to say, kept in by fences—so that shepherding is unnecessary.1873, Anthony Trollope, “[South Australia.] Wool.”, in Australia and New Zealand. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 214
    • Now, if you went down into the forest where the spring gum-tips gleam gold and ruby in whatever sunshine, Heaven thinks fit to apportion at this season to residents of the Dandenongs (who surely were all born Aquarians) what sign of the Zodiac would you expect to meet? [...] Not Taurus the Bull...1947 November 14, Mountain District Free Press and Frentree Gully News, Tecoma, Vic., page 8, column 2
  2. (Australia, New Zealand, transitive) To enclose or fence in (land) to form a paddock.
    • When a run is "paddocked," shepherds are not required;—but boundary-riders are employed, each of whom is supplied with two horses, and these men are responsible not only for the sheep but for the fences.1873, Anthony Trollope, “[New South Wales.] Country Life in the Bush.”, in Australia and New Zealand. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 302
  3. (Australia, New Zealand, also, intransitive, transitive) To excavate washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) from (a superficial deposit).
  4. (Australia, New Zealand, obsolete, transitive) To store (ore, washdirt, etc.) in a paddock (noun sense 2.5).

Noun (2)

paddock (plural paddocks)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, transitive) A frog.
    • Cold as a paddock.
    • Also the Lord seide to Moises, Entre thou to Farao, and thou schalt seie to hym, The Lord seith these thingis, Delyuere thou my puple, that it make sacrifice to me; sotheli if thou nylt delyuere, lo! Y schal smyte alle thi termys with paddoks; and the flood schal buyle out paddokis, […][c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe [et al.], edited by Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, The Holy Bible, […], volume I (in Middle English), Oxford: At the University Press, published 1850, →OCLC, Exodus...
  2. (Australia, New Zealand, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, transitive) A toad.
    • Where I was wont to ſeeke the honey Bee, / Working her formall rowmes in Wexen frame: / The grieſlie Todeſtoole growne there mought I ſe / And loathed Paddocks lording on the ſame.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “December. Ægloga Duodecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 49, verso
    • Padock calls anon: faire is foule, and foule is faire, / Houer through the fogge and filthie ayre.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  3. (Australia, New Zealand, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, derogatory) A contemptible, or malicious or nasty, person.
    • [T]here was grandfaither's siller tester in the puddock’s heart of him.1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Black Andie’s Tale of Tod Lapraik”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 182
  4. (Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, transitive) A simple, usually triangular, sledge which is dragged along the ground to transport items.

Proper noun capitalized: Paddock

Paddock (plural Paddocks)

  1. An English surname.
    • But 64-year-old Stephen C. Paddock flew low under the radar. He avoided interaction with many of the people around him, and his manner was direct and brusque.2017 October 6, Ann O'Neill and Bob Ortega, “The unknowable Stephen Paddock and the ultimate mystery: Why?”, in CNN

paddock meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

paddock in Hindi

पैडक, पैडॉक

paddock in Tamil

உலாவல் அடைப்பு, புல்வெளி முற்றம்

paddock in Marathi

पॅडॉक, पॅडक, पॅडॉकला

paddock in Urdu

پیڈوک, پیڈاک, پیڈک
More languagesFewer languages
paddock in Bengali
প্যাডক, প্যাডোক
paddock in Telugu
పాడాక్, ప్యాడాక్
paddock in Malayalam
പുൽപ്പറമ്പ്, മേച്ചിൽപറമ്പ്, മേച്ചിൽസ്ഥലം, ചരഭൂമി
paddock in Kannada
ಪ್ಯಾಡಾಕ್, ಪ್ಯಾಡಕ್, ಪ್ಯಾಡಾಕ್ಗೆ
paddock in Punjabi
ਪੈਡਕ, ਪੈਡੌਕ
paddock in Gujarati
પેડોક, પેડક, પેડૉક
paddock in Odia
ପ୍ଯ଼ାଡକ୍
paddock in Nepali
प्याडक, प्याडोक, प्याडॉक
paddock in Indonesian
pedok

Examples of paddock in a sentence

  • [H]e has delineated estates of romance, from which their actual possessions are shanties and paddocks.1844, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay VI. Nature.”, in Essays: Second Series, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 190:
  • There was only the extent of a wide paddock and a lawn between the hall-door and that grand old gateway, and the house, though substantial and capacious, hardly pretended to the dignity of a mansion.[1885], [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “After the Inquest”, in Wyllard’s Weird. […], volume I, London: John and Robert Maxwell […], →OCLC, page...
  • [T]he two of them [Benjamin the donkey and Boxer the cart-horse] usually spent their Sundays together in the small paddock beyond the orchard, grazing side by side and never speaking.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Animal...
  • The vvater-Snake, vvhom Fiſh and Paddocks fed, / VVith ſtaring Scales lies poyſon'd in his Bed: […]1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and...

All 24 example sentences with paddock

Synonyms of paddock

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of paddock

Forms of paddock

Noun
pluralpaddocks
alternative formpadock
alternative formpuddock
Verb
third-person singular presentpaddocks
present participlepaddocking
past participlepaddocked
pastpaddocked
Proper noun
pluralPaddocks

Plural of paddock: paddocks

Origin of paddock

The noun is almost certainly a variant of dialectal British parrock (“enclosure; park; croft, small field, paddock”), from Middle English parrok, parrock (“enclosed pasture, paddock; coop; feeding stall; cabin, hut”) [and other forms], from Old English pearroc, pearruc (“fence used to enclose a space; area enclosed by such a fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *parruk (“enclosure; pen for animals”), from Proto-Germanic *parrukaz (“fence; enclosure”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *barō (“bar, beam; barrier”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce; to strike”). Equivalent to park + -ock. Doublet of park. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Danish park (“pond”) * Dutch perk (“flowerbed; garden; pen”) * German Pferch (“sheepfold, sheep-pen”)

From Middle English paddok, paddoke (“frog; toad”) [and other forms], from pad, pade (“frog; toad”) + -ok (diminutive suffix). Pad, pade is derived from Old English *pada, *padda, padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”); further etymology uncertain, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to swell”). The English word is analysable as pad (“(Britain, dialectal) frog; toad”) + -ock (suffix forming nouns, originally with diminutive senses). Sense 2 (“sledge”) is probably from the supposed resemblance of the object to a frog or toad.

See paddock.

Words formed from paddock

Phrases with paddock

Words that rhyme with paddock

Questions about paddock

What does paddock mean?
Paddock means a small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
What is paddock in Hindi?
Paddock in Hindi is पैडक, पैडॉक. See Paddock meaning in Hindi.
How do you use paddock in a sentence?
[H]e has delineated estates of romance, from which their actual possessions are shanties and paddocks.
What part of speech is paddock?
Paddock can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce paddock?
Paddock is pronounced /ˈpædək/ (UK).
What is the plural of paddock?
The plural of paddock is paddocks.

Words near paddock in the dictionary

  1. paddling pool
  2. paddling pools
  3. paddlings
  4. paddlogaine
  5. paddlogaines
  6. paddock
  7. paddock girl
  8. paddock girls
  9. Paddock Wood
  10. paddock-stool
  11. paddock-stools

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paddock (page history and authors); Paddock (page history and authors); paddock (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paddock (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); paddock (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paddock (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-paddock.wav, En-au-paddock.ogg.

Cite this entry: “paddock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paddock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.