palm
Pluralpalms
Pluralpalms
- 1The inside of your hand between your wrist and fingers, or the matching part of an animal's front foot.
Like the flat middle of a small dish where things can rest.
She held the coin in her palm and smiled.
The doctor pressed gently on the center of his palm.
UsageTo read a palm is to tell the future from its lines.
Note
- 2A tall tree that grows in hot places, with big leaves at the top and no branches.
Like a giant green umbrella on a single pole.
Coconuts dropped from the palm onto the warm sand.
They planted a young palm beside the swimming pool.
UsageSay palm tree to be clear.
- 3To hide a small object in your hand, often to trick someone or to steal it.
Like hiding a candy in your hand so no one can see it.
Skilled cheats palm chips at the table without anyone noticing.
The magician palmed the coin and produced it from behind her ear.
- 4A leaf or branch from a palm tree, carried long ago as a sign of victory or joy.
Like waving a flag to celebrate a win.
In the old painting, the winner holds a palm as a sign of victory.
She carried a palm in the procession to mark the feast.
Similarfrond
Note
- 5
Less common meanings
- 6
- 7To hold something flat against your hand without curling your fingers much.
Like balancing a plate flat on your hand instead of gripping it.
Tall players can palm a basketball with one hand.
He palmed the melon to show off his big hands.
Note
- 8To use your handprint to open a door or pass a security check.
Like using a key, except the key is your own hand.
At the lab, you palm the panel and the steel door slides open.
He palmed the reader to unlock the lab.
UsageSay palm the scanner, or palm in.
- 9The wide, flat part of a deer's antler.
Like an open hand, with the antler points as fingers.
The hunter admired the broad palm of the stag's antler.
Each antler ended in a wide palm dotted with points.
Note
- 10An old way of measuring length using the width or length of a hand.
Like using your hand's width to measure instead of a ruler.
Long ago, a palm was about as wide as a person's hand.
He found it to be ninety-five fathoms wide, and five palms deep at a place of average depth
1931, Herbert Eugene Bolton, Outpost of Empire: The Story of the Founding of San FranciscoHere, palms means an old measure of length based on the hand.Similarhandbreadth
Note
- 11To secretly give someone money to get a favor.
He never again appeared in the house where practices of this description are carried on every night, and where officers of the police are palmed (bribed) for their forbearance.
1845, George Smeeton, Doings in LondonHere, palmed means bribed, paid secretly.Note
- 12An award a Scout earns after reaching Eagle Scout, one for every five more merit badges, before turning 18.
- 13A metal disk on a strap, worn in the hand to push a needle through thick cloth, such as sails.
- 14The flat inside part of an anchor's hooked arm.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Latin palma, meaning "palm tree" or "palm branch". It came into Old and Middle English before modern English.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The tree sense derives from Latin palma, meaning palm tree or palm branch. en.wiktionary.org
- The word passed through Old English and Middle English before modern English. en.wiktionary.org
From Latin palma, meaning "palm of the hand". It came through Old French into Middle English.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Palm derives from Latin palma, meaning "palm of the hand". en.wiktionary.org
- The word passed through Old French into Middle English. en.wiktionary.org