paddle

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
paddle1

▶noun

• 1 a short pole with a broad blade at one or both ends, used to move a small boat or canoe through the water.

  ■ an act of paddling.

  ■ each of the boards fitted round the circumference of a paddle wheel or mill wheel.

  ■ the fin or flipper of an aquatic mammal or bird.

• 2 a short-handled bat such as that used in table tennis.

  ■ any of various paddle-shaped instruments used for stirring or mixing.

  ■ N. Amer. informal a paddle-shaped instrument used for administering corporal punishment.

• 3 a flat array of solar cells projecting from a spacecraft.

• 4 Medicine a plastic-covered electrode used in cardiac stimulation.

▶verb

• 1 propel (a boat or canoe) with a paddle or paddles.

  ■ (of a bird or other animal) swim with short, fast strokes.

• 2 informal, chiefly N. Amer. beat with a paddle as a punishment.

– derivatives
paddler noun.

– origin ME: of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
paddle2

▶verb walk with bare feet in shallow water. ▶noun an act of paddling.

– derivatives
paddler noun.

– origin C16: of obscure origin; cf. Low Ger. paddeln ‘tramp about’.