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What is the difference between paddle and oar?

paddle | oar |

Oar is a synonym of paddle.



As nouns the difference between paddle and oar

is that paddle is a two-handed, single-bladed oar used to propel a canoe or a small boat while oar is an implement used to propel a boat or a ship in the water, having a flat blade at one end, being rowed from the other end and being normally fastened to the vessel.

As verbs the difference between paddle and oar

is that paddle is to propel something through water with a paddle, oar, hands, etc while oar is to row; to propel with oars.

paddle

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) padell (1407, "small spade"), from Medieval Latin padela, perhaps from (etyl) patella "pan, plate", the diminutive of patina

Noun

(en noun)
  • A two-handed, single-bladed oar used to propel a canoe or a small boat.
  • A double-bladed oar used for kayaking.
  • Time spent on paddling.
    • We had a nice paddle this morning.
  • A slat of a paddleboat's wheel.
  • A paddlewheel.
  • A blade of a waterwheel.
  • (video games, dated) A game controller with a round wheel used to control player movement along one axis of the video screen.
  • (British) A meandering walk or dabble through shallow water, especially at the seaside.
  • A kitchen utensil shaped like a paddle and used for mixing, beating etc.
  • A bat-shaped spanking implement
    • ''The paddle practically ousted the British cane as the spanker's attribute in the independent US
  • A ping-pong bat.
  • A flat limb of an aquatic animal, adapted for swimming.
    • ''A sea turtle's paddles make it swim almost as fast as land tortoises are slow
  • In a sluice, a panel that controls the flow of water.
  • A group of inerts
  • A handheld defibrillation/cardioversion electrode
    • Derived terms
    * paddler * paddleboat * paddle board * paddlewheel * paddle steamer * paddling * dog paddle * traffic paddle
    See also
    * oar

    Verb

  • To propel something through water with a paddle, oar, hands, etc.
  • * L'Estrange
    • as the men were paddling for their lives
  • * (John Gay)
    • while paddling ducks the standing lake desire
  • * 1884 : (Mark Twain), (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), Chapter IX
    • Daytimes we paddled all over the island in the canoe
  • To row a boat with less than one's full capacity.
  • To spank with a paddle.
  • To pat or stroke amorously or gently.
  • * Shakespeare
    • to be paddling palms and pinching fingers.
  • To tread upon; to trample.

    • Etymology 2

    Recorded since 1530, probably cognate with Low German paddeln "to tramp about," frequent. of padjen "to tramp, to run in short steps," from pad (also in Dutch dialects)

    Verb

  • (British) To walk or dabble playfully in shallow water, especially at the seaside.
  • To toddle
  • (archaic) To toy or caress using hands or fingers

    • oar

    English

    (wikipedia oar)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An implement used to propel a boat or a ship in the water, having a flat blade at one end, being rowed from the other end and being normally fastened to the vessel.
  • An oarsman; a rower.
    • He is a good oar .
  • (zoology) An oar-like swimming organ of various invertebrates.

    • Synonyms

    * (implement used to propel a boat) paddle

    Derived terms

    * stick one's oar in

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To row; to propel with oars.
  • *
    • Turning the long tables upside down — and there were twelve of them — they seated themselves, one behind another, within the upturned table tops as though they were boats and were about to oar their way into some fabulous ocean.

    Anagrams

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