paddock
/ˈpædək/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms paddocks paddocking paddocked padock puddock
- noun (also figuratively) A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
- noun (horse racing) An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race.
- noun (motor racing) An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles are parked and worked on before and between races.
- noun (sports, slang) A field on which a game is played; a playing field.
- noun (Australia, New Zealand) A field of grassland of any size, either enclosed by fences or delimited by geographical boundaries, especially a large area for keeping cattle or sheep.
- noun (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, mining) A place in a superficial deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc.
- verb (often passive voice) To place or keep (cattle, horses, sheep, or other animals) within a paddock (noun sense 1 or 2.4); hence, to provide (such animals) with pasture.
- verb To enclose or fence in (land) to form a paddock.
- verb (also intransitive) To excavate washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) from (a superficial deposit).
- verb (obsolete) To store (ore, washdirt, etc.) in a paddock (noun sense 2.5).
- noun A frog. “Cold as a paddock.”
- noun A toad.
- noun (derogatory) A contemptible, or malicious or nasty, person.
- noun (Scotland) A simple, usually triangular, sledge which is dragged along the ground to transport items.
- proper noun An English surname.
Synonyms
assbag assbreath assbucket asschunk asscunt assface assfag assfaggot assfuck assfucker asshat asshead asshole assmonkey assmouth assmunch assmuncher asstard asswagon assweed
Etymology
The noun is almost certainly a variant of dialectal British parrock (“enclosure; park; croft, small field, paddock”), from Middle English parrok, parrock (“enclosed pasture, paddock; coop; feeding stall; cabin, hut”) [and other forms], from Old English pearroc, pearruc (“fence used to enclose a space; area enclosed by such a fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *parruk (“enclosure; pen for animals”), from Proto-Germanic *parrukaz (“fence; enclosure”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *barō (“bar, beam; barrier”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce; to strike”). Equivalent to park + -ock. Doublet of park.
The verb is derived from the noun.
* Danish park (“pond”)
* Dutch perk (“flowerbed; garden; pen”)
* German Pferch (“sheepfold, sheep-pen”)
From Middle English paddok, paddoke (“frog; toad”) [and other forms], from pad, pade (“frog; toad”) + -ok (diminutive suffix). Pad, pade is derived from Old English *pada, *padda, padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”); further etymology uncertain, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to swell”). The English word is analysable as pad (“(Britain, dialectal) frog; toad”) + -ock (suffix forming nouns, originally with diminutive senses).
Sense 2 (“sledge”) is probably from the supposed resemblance of the object to a frog or toad.
See paddock.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A toad or frog. Wyclif. "Loathed paddocks." Spenser Paddock pipe (Bot.), a hollow-stemmed plant of the genus Equisetum, especially E. limosum and the fruiting stems of E. arvense; --called also padow pipe and toad pipe. See Equisetum.
- noun A small inclosure or park for sporting. [Obs.]
- noun A small inclosure for pasture; esp., one adjoining a stable.
Etymology [OE. padde toad, frog + -ock; akin to D. pad, padde, toad, Icel. & Sw. padda, Dan. padde.]
Etymology [Corrupted fr. parrock. See Parrock.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “paddock”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details