willow

[wil-oh] /ˈwɪl oʊ/

noun

any tree or shrub of the genus Salix, characterized by narrow, lance-shaped leaves and dense catkins bearing small flowers, many species having tough, pliable twigs or branches used for wickerwork, etc.

Compare willow family.

the wood of any of these trees.

Informal. something, especially a cricket bat, made of willow wood.

Also called willower, willy. a machine consisting essentially of a cylinder armed with spikes revolving within a spiked casing, for opening and cleaning cotton or other fiber.

verb (used with object)

to treat (textile fibers) with a willow.

Origin

before 900; Middle English wilwe, variant of wilghe, Old English welig; cognate with Old Saxon wilgia, Dutch wilg, Low German wilge

Related forms

willowlike, adjective

willowish, adjective

Examples from the web for willow

She was sitting on an ivory settee, crocheting something or other, and had her crewels in a shallow willow work-basket in her lap.
Ptarmigan nibble on willow, and gyrfalcons dive for ptarmigan.
Halfway to the bottom, the desert opened, then practically vanished into stands of willow and cottonwood.
In the center, a marooned willow wept, with no pool.
willow oak is long lived and fast growing, and it is widely planted as a landscape tree.
willow, who has gone through her own roommate problems, moves in with buffy afterwards.

British Dictionary definitions for willow

willow

/ˈwɪləʊ/

noun

any of numerous salicaceous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix, such as the weeping willow and osiers of N temperate regions, which have graceful flexible branches, flowers in catkins, and feathery seeds

the whitish wood of certain of these trees

something made of willow wood, such as a cricket or baseball bat

a machine having a system of revolving spikes for opening and cleaning raw textile fibres

Derived Forms

willowish, willow-like, adjective

Word Origin

Old English welig; related to wilige wicker basket, Old Saxon wilgia, Middle High German wilge, Greek helikē willow, helix twisted

Willow

noun

a small town in S Alaska, about 113 km (70 miles) northwest of Anchorage: chosen as the site of the projected new state capital in 1976, a plan which never came to fruition. Pop: 1658 (2000)

Word Origin and History for willow

Old English welig, from Proto-Germanic *walg- (cf. Old Saxon wilgia, Middle Dutch wilghe, Dutch wilg), probably from PIE *wel- "to turn, roll," with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects. The change in form to -ow (14c.) paralleled that of bellow and fellow. The more typical Germanic word for the tree is represented by withy.