wattles

Noun

wattle (countable and uncountable, plural wattles)

1. A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
   • And there the heathen Prince, Arviragus, / Gave him an isle of marsh whereon to build; / And there he built with wattles from the marsh / A little lonely church in days of yore, […]1874, Alfred Tennyson, “The Holy Grail”, in Idylls of the King (The Works of Alfred Tennyson; VI), cabinet edition, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], →OCLC, page 104
2. A single twig or rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.
3. A wrinkled fold of skin, sometimes brightly coloured, hanging from the neck of birds (such as chicken and turkey) and some lizards.
4. A barbel of a fish.
5. A decorative fleshy appendage on the neck of a goat.
6. Loose hanging skin in the neck of a person.
   • The buttons below his waddle open to reveal a ruddy V, tidemark of the sun.2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa

See all 10 meanings of wattle