Definition

1. Noun:

   • A short oar: A short, light oar with a broad blade at one or both ends, used to propel a canoe or small boat without a rowlock.
   • An instrument for punishment: A flat board, often with a handle, used for spanking.
   • A blade on a wheel: One of the broad boards or blades fixed around the rim of a paddle wheel or waterwheel.
   • A sports bat: A small, flat wooden bat used for hitting a ball in games like table tennis.

2. Verb:

   • To propel with a paddle: To move a boat through water using a paddle.
   • To punish by spanking: To hit someone, especially a child, with a flat object as punishment.
   • To walk unsteadily: To walk with short, unsteady steps, like a small child.
   • To play in water: To move hands or feet gently in shallow water; to dabble.
   • To swim like a dog: To swim with a splashing, shallow stroke in a clumsy manner.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • She dipped the paddle into the calm lake to steer the canoe.
  • The old school had a paddle hanging in the principal's office as a deterrent.
  • The steamboat's large paddle wheel churned the muddy water.

• Verb:

  • We will paddle across the bay at sunrise.
  • (Rare/dated) The teacher threatened to paddle any student who misbehaved.
  • The toddler paddled across the room to her mother.
  • The children loved to paddle their feet in the cool stream.

Advanced Usage

• "To paddle one's own canoe": To be independent and self-reliant; to manage one's own affairs without help.
  • After college, he moved out and learned to paddle his own canoe.

Variants and Related Words

• Paddler (n): A person who paddles a boat.
• Paddling (n/gerund): The action of propelling a boat with a paddle; an instance of being spanked with a paddle.

Synonyms

• Noun (oar): Oar, scull.
• Verb (propel): Row, scull.
• Verb (dabble): Splash, dabble.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Paddle about/around: To move a boat around casually using a paddle; to dabble or play in water.
  • We spent the afternoon paddling about on the lake.

Related Idioms

• "Up the creek without a paddle": In a difficult situation with no help or means to proceed.
  • If the car breaks down here, we'll be up the creek without a paddle.

Noun

1. a short light oar used without an oarlock to propel a canoe or small boat
2. an instrument of punishment consisting of a flat board
3. a blade of a paddle wheel or water wheel
4. small wooden bat with a flat surface; used for hitting balls in various games

Verb

1. stir with a paddle
2. give a spanking to; subject to a spanking
3. walk unsteadily
   • small children toddle
4. swim like a dog in shallow water
5. play in or as if in water, as of small children
6. propel with a paddle
   • paddle your own canoe