paddock

¹

[ pad-uhk ]

noun

1. a small, usually enclosed field near a stable or barn for pasturing or exercising animals.
2. the enclosure in which horses are saddled and mounted before a race.
3. Australian. any enclosed field or pasture.

verb (used with object)

1. to confine or enclose in or as in a paddock.

paddock

²

[ pad-uhk ]

noun

1. Archaic. a frog or toad.

paddock

¹

/ ˈpædək /

noun

1. a small enclosed field, often for grazing or training horses, usually near a house or stable
2. (in horse racing) the enclosure in which horses are paraded and mounted before a race, together with the accompanying rooms
3. (in motor racing) an area near the pits where cars are worked on before races
4. any area of fenced land
5. a playing field
6. the long paddock informal.
   a stockroute or roadside area offering feed to sheep and cattle in dry times

verb

1. tr to confine (horses, etc) in a paddock

paddock

²

/ ˈpædək /

noun

1. archaic.
   a frog or toad Also called (Scot)puddock

Word History and Origins

Origin of paddock¹

1540–50; variant of Middle English parrok, with r heard as flapped d; Old English pearroc enclosure, originally fence. See park

Origin of paddock²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English paddok(e), derivative of early Middle English pad “toad” (compare English dialectal pad “frog”); akin to Dutch, Low German pad, Old Norse padda; -ock

Word History and Origins

Origin of paddock¹

C17: variant of dialect parrock, from Old English pearruc enclosure, of Germanic origin. See park

Origin of paddock²

C12: from pad toad, probably from Old Norse padda; see -ock

Example Sentences

But it is widely accepted in the paddock that Mercedes are looking the best in terms of engine performance for 2026.

From BBC

The guests and I are seated on blanketed chairs, in-the-round inside a horse paddock.

From Los Angeles Times

But his weekend was made with a qualifying lap that drew superlatives from all over the F1 paddock.

From BBC

Meanwhile a two-month-old Alaotran gentle lemur has taken its first tentative jumps beyond the safety of its mother Hazo and father Rocky, making its first trips across an outdoor paddock to nibble on leafy greens.

From BBC

Wealth speaks loudly in the paddock and, as Stanton points out, it is one of the few sports "where your financial capability is as important as your talent".

From BBC

Related Words

• oval
• track