wattle

American  

[wot-l] / ˈwɒt l /

noun

1. Often wattles. a number of rods or stakes interwoven with twigs or tree branches for making fences, walls, etc.

2. wattles, a number of poles laid on a roof to hold thatch.

3. (in Australia) any of various acacias whose shoots and branches were used by the early colonists for wattles, now valued especially for their bark, which is used in tanning.

4. a fleshy lobe or appendage hanging down from the throat or chin of certain birds, as the domestic chicken or turkey.

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verb (used with object)

wattled, wattling

1. to bind, wall, fence, etc., with wattle or wattles.

2. to roof or frame with or as if with wattles.

3. to form into a basketwork; interweave; interlace.

4. to make or construct by interweaving twigs or branches.

   to wattle a fence.

adjective

1. built or roofed with wattle or wattles.

wattle ¹ British  

/ ˈwɒtəl /

noun

1. a frame of rods or stakes interwoven with twigs, branches, etc, esp when used to make fences

2. the material used in such a construction

3. a loose fold of skin, often brightly coloured, hanging from the neck or throat of certain birds, lizards, etc

4. any of various chiefly Australian acacia trees having spikes of small brightly coloured flowers and flexible branches, which were used by early settlers for making fences See also golden wattle

5. a southern African caesalpinaceous tree, Peltophorum africanum, with yellow flowers

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verb

1. to construct from wattle

2. to bind or frame with wattle

3. to weave or twist (branches, twigs, etc) into a frame

adjective

1. made of, formed by, or covered with wattle

wattle ² British  

/ ˈwɒtəl /

adjective

1. dialect of poor quality

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Other Word Forms

• unwattled adjective
• wattled adjective

Etymology

Origin of wattle

before 900; (noun) Middle English wattel, Old English watul covering, akin to wætla bandage; (v.) Middle English wattelen, derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

In comparison, carbon-capture plantations are usually monocultures and are dominated globally by just five tree species -- teak, mahogany, cedar, silk oak, and black wattle -- that are grown for timber, pulp, or agroforestry.

From Science Daily • Oct. 3, 2023

The seasonal link between, say, a wattle flowering and the arrival of fish species is breaking down.

From Salon • Nov. 28, 2022

The queen’s death on Sept. 8 came in the Southern Hemisphere spring when wattle blooms, its golden flowers and green leaves reflecting Australia’s national colors in what has become a symbol of unity.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022

Other species making use of color for courtship include the fan-throated lizard, with a wattle of iridescent blue and orange, and the Siamese fighting fish, its tail bristling with blood-orange finnage.

From New York Times • Dec. 31, 2020

The women all stayed in the wattle huts, peering out the door, hiding their children behind their skirts, drawing back fearfully into the darkness of the huts as the strangers came up from the beach.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin