wattle

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: wat=tle

CIDE DICTIONARY

wattle, n. [AS. watel, watul, watol, hurdle, covering, wattle; cf. OE. watel a bag. Cf. Wallet.].

•  A twig or flexible rod; hence, a hurdle made of such rods.  [1913 Webster]

  "And there he built with wattles from the marsh
  A little lonely church in days of yore."  [1913 Webster]
•  A rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.  [1913 Webster]
•  A naked fleshy, and usually wrinkled and highly colored, process of the skin hanging from the chin or throat of a bird or reptile.  [1913 Webster]
•  The astringent bark of several Australian trees of the genus Acacia, used in tanning; -- called also wattle bark.  [1913 Webster]
•  Material consisting of wattled twigs, withes, etc., used for walls, fences, and the like.  Frances Macnab.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  In Australasia, any tree of the genus Acacia; -- so called from the wattles, or hurdles, which the early settlers made of the long, pliable branches or of the split stems of the slender species. The bark of such trees is also called wattle. See also Savanna wattle, under Savanna.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Wattle turkey. (Zoöl.) Same as Brush turkey.

wattle, v. t. 

•  To bind with twigs.  [1913 Webster]
•  To twist or interweave, one with another, as twigs; to form a network with; to plat; as, to wattle branches.  [1913 Webster]
•  To form, by interweaving or platting twigs.  [1913 Webster]

  "The folded flocks, penned in their wattled cotes."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

wattle, n. & v.
--n.
1 a interlaced rods and split rods as a material for making fences, walls, etc. b (in sing. or pl.) rods and twigs for this use.
2 an Australian acacia with long pliant branches, with bark used in tanning and golden flowers used as the national emblem.
3 dial. a wicker hurdle.
--v.tr.
1 make of wattle.
2 enclose or fill up with wattles.

Idiom

wattle and daub a network of rods and twigs plastered with mud or clay as a building material.

wattle, n.
1 a loose fleshy appendage on the head or throat of a turkey or other birds.
2 = BARB n. 3.

Derivative

wattled adj.

Etymology

16th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

wattle

arabesque, basketry, basketwork, braid, cancellation, cross-hatching, crossing-out, enlace, entwine, filigree, fret, fretwork, grate, grating, grid, gridiron, grille, grillwork, hachure, hatching, interknit, interlace, interlacement, intertexture, intertie, intertissue, intertwine, intertwinement, intertwist, interweave, intort, knit, lace, lacery, lacework, lacing, lattice, latticework, loom, loop, mat, mesh, meshes, meshwork, net, netting, network, noose, plait, pleach, plexure, plexus, raddle, reticle, reticulation, reticule, reticulum, riddle, screen, screening, sieve, splice, texture, tissue, tracery, trellis, trelliswork, twill, twine, twist, weave, weaving, web, webbing, webwork, weft, wicker, wickerwork, wreathe

ROGET THESAURUS

wattle

Crossing

N crossing, intersection, interdigitation, decussation, transversion, convolution, level crossing, reticulation, network, inosculation, anastomosis, intertexture, mortise, net, plexus, web, mesh, twill, skein, sleeve, felt, lace, wicker, mat, matting, plait, trellis, wattle, lattice, grating, grille, gridiron, tracery, fretwork, filigree, reticle, tissue, netting, mokes, rivulation, cross, chain, wreath, braid, cat's cradle, knot, entangle, cloth, linen, muslin, cambric, crossing, crossed, matted, v, transverse, cross, cruciform, crucial, retiform, reticular, reticulated, areolar, cancellated, grated, barred, streaked, textile, crossbarred, cruciate, palmiped, secant, web-footed, cross, thwart, athwart, transversely, at grade, crosswise.