# willow

Pronunciation: say "WIL-oh" US /ˈwɪloʊ/, UK /ˈwɪl.əʊ/

## Noun

1. Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs of the genus Salix, in the family Salicaceae, growing mainly on moist soils in the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
   - Simple: A tree or bush that drops its leaves each fall and grows mostly in wet ground in cool northern places.
   - _From the ridge we could trace the stream by the willows crowding its banks._
   - _The old willow by the boathouse dropped its leaves early that fall._
2. The wood obtained from trees and shrubs of the genus Salix, the willows.
   - Simple: The wood that comes from willow trees and bushes.
   - _The bowls on the stall were turned from willow and finished with linseed oil._
   - _He stacked the willow in a separate pile from the oak in the woodshed._
3. A bat used by a batter to strike the ball in cricket. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A bat used to hit the ball in the game of cricket.
   - _He strode out to the crease with his willow tucked under one arm._
   - _The young opener wielded the willow with real authority, striking four boundaries in a single over._
5. A bat used by a batter to hit the pitched ball in baseball. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A bat that a player swings to hit the ball in baseball.
   - _Leading off the ninth, the shortstop tapped his willow on the plate and dug in._
   - _The team kept its willows in a long wooden rack beside the dugout._

## Verb

4. To take a shape or move in the manner of a willow's long, slender branches.
   - Simple: To take a shape, or move, like the long, thin branches of a willow tree.
   - _Long strands of kelp willow back and forth in the current beneath the pier._
   - _The dancer's arms willowed above her head as the music slowed to a close._

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A modern girl's first name, taken from the name of the tree.
- (noun) A revolving drum set with spikes, used to open up and clean cotton heads.
- (verb) To open up and clean cotton, flax, wool, or similar fiber by running it through a willow, a revolving spiked drum.
- (proper noun) An unincorporated community in Alaska counted as a separate place in the US census.
- (proper noun) A town in the state of Wisconsin, in the United States.
- (proper noun) A small town in the state of Oklahoma, in the United States.

## Origin

From Middle English wilwe or welew, a variant of wilghe, which came from Old English welig. It traces back through Proto-West Germanic *wilig and Proto-Germanic *wiligaz to Proto-Indo-European *welik-, which is related to Arcadian Ancient Greek helíkē and Hittite welku ("grass"), and ultimately comes from the root *wel- ("twist, turn").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/willow (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).