willow
UK/ˈwɪl.əʊ//ˈwɪloʊ/
willow noun: any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.
Noun
willow (countable and uncountable, plural willows)
- Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.
- […] and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows.1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC
- And willows, willow-herb, and grass, / And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, / No whit less still and lonely fair / Than the high cloudlets in the sky.1917, Edward Thomas, “Adlestrop”, in Poems, London: Selwyn & Blount, page 40
- The wood of these trees.
- A cricket bat.
- The baseball bat.
- A rotating spiked drum used to open and clean cotton heads.
Verb
willow (third-person singular simple present willows, present participle willowing, simple past and past participle willowed)
- To open and cleanse (cotton, flax, wool, etc.) by means of a willow.
- To form a shape or move in a way similar to the long, slender branches of a willow.
- Willowing over the rough cobbles of the little pier stepped a thin, bent figure, adorned with a silver nanny-goat's beard and bobbling eyes interrupted by the rim of a pair of pince-nez.1928, Robert Byron, “Gardenias and Sweetpeas”, in The Station: Athos: Treasures and Men, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC, page 175
- Joe’s impulse was to sketch her, with her shadow willowing beyond her on the mouse-gray paving-stone; but his left fist, obeying instinct, remained clenched behind his back […]1930, Talbot Mundy, chapter 7, in Black Light
Proper noun capitalized: Willow
Willow
- A female given name from English of modern usage.
- Before he died her father had run a nursery just outside the town. He loved trees so much he'd even named his two daughters and one son after them: Willow, Ashley and Oak.1992, Martha Grimes, The End of the Pier, page 132
- A census-designated place in Alaska.
- A town in Oklahoma.
- A town in Wisconsin.
willow meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
willow in Hindi
- विलो, विल्लो
willow in Tamil
- வில்லோ
willow in Marathi
- tree
- वाळुंज vāḷuñja
willow in Urdu
- بید, خدنگ, پنبہ
More languagesFewer languages
- willow in Bengali
- উইলো ফ্যামিলি স্যালিকেসিতে, এধরনের গাছের কাঠ, ক্রিকেট ব্যাট, বেসবল ব্যাট
- willow in Telugu
- ఒక విధమైన చెట్టు oka vidhamaina ceṭṭu
- willow in Malayalam
- വില്ലോ
- willow in Kannada
- ವಿಲ್ಲೋ, ವಿಲೋ
- willow in Punjabi
- ਬੇਦ bed
- willow in Gujarati
- વિલો, વિલ્લો
- willow in Odia
- ୱିଲୋ, ଉଇଲୋ, ୱିଲୌ
- willow in Nepali
- विलो, विल्लो
- willow in Pashto
- وله wala
- willow in Tagalog
- sawse
- willow in Arabic
- صَفْصَاف ṣafṣāf, غَرَب ḡarab, خِلَاف ḵilāf
- willow in Indonesian
- dedalu
- willow in Persian
- بید bid
- willow in Thai
- หลิว lǐu
- willow in Vietnamese
- liễu
- willow in Myanmar
- မိုးမခ mui:ma.hka.
- Kashmiri
- ویٖر vīr
Examples of willow in a sentence
- The pounded leaves of the willow, drunk in a concoction, were formerly reputed to diminish amatory desires.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 249:
- By old age she was emaciated, the bones jutting out of her face and her figure frail as a willow branch.1983 December 3, J. R., “Isak Dinesen, The Life of a Storyteller (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 20, page 10:
- Deep in the willow / Hidden from grace / Succumb to insecurity / Your final resting place / Crafting your perfect world, ignoring total truth / You'll die alone / There's only room for you2023, “Deep in the Willow”, performed by Knocked Loose:
- The draft-drawn smoke willowed down through the hole and across my face, but I didn’t worry about coughing or sneezing.2013, Dean Koontz, Wilderness, Bantam Books:
Synonyms of willow
Forms of willow
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | willows |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | willows |
| present participle | willowing |
| past participle | willowed |
| past | willowed |
Origin of willow
From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English weliġ, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”). Cognate to West Frisian wylch and more distantly (via Proto-West Germanic *wilgijā) to Dutch wilg and German Wilge.
From willow.
Words formed from willow
- almond-leaved willow
- almond willow
- arctic willow
- arroyo willow
- Australian willow
- autumn willow
- Babylon willow
- balsam willow
- Barton-le-Willows
- basket willow
- bay willow
- bearberry willow
- Bedford willow
- bitter willow
- black willow
- button willow
- coyote willow
- crack willow
- creeping willow
- desert willow
- downy willow
- fall willow
- French willow
- glaucous willow
- goat willow
- hoary willow
- Huntingdon willow
- Kennicott's willow warbler
- Kilmarnock willow
- least willow
- narrowleaf willow
- net-leaved willow
- Newton-le-Willows
- olive willow
- peachleaf willow
- Peking willow
- polar willow
- prairie willow
- primrose-willow
- pussy willow
- pussy-willow
- Red Willow County
- Red Willow Creek
- rosebay willow herb
- rosemary willow
- sageleaf willow
- sandbar willow
- sea willow
- sea-willow
- silky willow
- strip the willow
- tea-leaved willow
- undergreen willow
- Walsham le Willows
- water willow
- weeping willow
- white willow
- Willowbank
- Willow Bunch
- willow bustic
Phrases with willow
- bog willow
- willow fly
- willow oak
- willow tit
- willow herb
- willow oaks
- willow tits
- willow tree
- Willow Vale
- willow wren
- wolf willow
- Willow Creek
18 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with willow
Questions about willow
- What does willow mean?
- Willow means any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.
- What is willow in Hindi?
- Willow in Hindi is विलो, विल्लो. See Willow meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use willow in a sentence?
- The pounded leaves of the willow, drunk in a concoction, were formerly reputed to diminish amatory desires.
- What part of speech is willow?
- Willow can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce willow?
- Willow is pronounced /ˈwɪl.əʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of willow?
- The plural of willow is willows.
Words near willow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: willow (page history and authors); Willow (page history and authors); willow (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willow (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willow (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); willow (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); willow (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willow (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ਬੇਦ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); willow (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willow (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willow (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-us-willow.ogg, en-au-willow.ogg.
Cite this entry: “willow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/willow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.