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Paddle vs Pad - What's the difference?

paddle | pad |

In transitive terms the difference between paddle and pad

is that paddle is to spank with a paddle while pad is to travel along (a road, path etc.).

In intransitive terms the difference between paddle and pad

is that paddle is to row a boat with less than one's full capacity while pad is to walk softly, quietly or steadily, especially without shoes.

As an interjection pad is

Indicating a soft flat sound, as of bare footsteps.

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
  • pad

    English

    Etymology 1

    1554, "bundle of straw to lie on", .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A flattened mass of anything soft, to sit or lie on.
  • A cushion used as a saddle without a tree or frame.
  • A soft, or small, cushion.
  • A cushion-like thickening of the skin on the under side of the toes of animals.
  • The mostly hairless flesh located on the bottom of an animal's foot or paw.
  • Any cushion-like part of the human body, especially the ends of the fingers.
  • A stuffed guard or protection, especially one worn on the legs of horses to prevent bruising.
  • A soft bag or cushion to relieve pressure, support a part, etc.
  • A sanitary napkin.
  • (US) A floating leaf of a water lily or similar plant.
  • (cricket) A soft cover for a batsman's leg that protects it from damage when hit by the ball.
  • A kind of cushion for writing upon, or for blotting, especially one formed of many flat sheets of writing paper; now especially such a block of paper sheets as used to write on.
  • A panel or strip of material designed to be sensitive to pressure or touch.
  • A keypad.
  • A flat surface or area from which a helicopter or other aircraft may land or be launched.
  • An electrical extension cord with a multi-port socket one end: "trip cord"
  • The effect produced by sustained lower reed notes in a musical piece, most common in blues music.
  • A synthesizer instrument sound used for sustained background sounds.
  • (US, slang) A bed.
  • (colloquial) A place of residence.
  • (cryptography) A random key (originally written on a disposable pad) of the same length as the plaintext.
  • A mousepad.
  • (nautical) A piece of timber fixed on a beam to fit the curve of the deck.
  • Derived terms
    {{der3, gamepad , incontinence pad , joypad , keypad , launchpad , mousepad , notepad , one-time pad , sleeping pad , touchpad , trackpad}}

    Verb

    (padd)
  • To stuff.
  • To furnish with a pad or padding.
  • To fill or lengthen (a story, one's importance, etc.).
  • The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.
    "Obama pads delegate lead ... with win in key western state."'' Austin American-Statesman ''newspaper, May 21, 2008.
  • To imbue uniformly with a mordant.
  • to pad cloth
  • (cricket) to deliberately play the ball with the leg pad instead of the bat.
  • Derived terms
    * well-padded

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) pade, padde, from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) , and possibly related to the (term)-like English paddle.

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialectal) A toad.
  • Derived terms
    * *

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialectal, Australia, Ireland) A footpath, particularly one unformed or unmaintained; a road or track. See footpad.
  • An easy-paced horse; a padnag.
  • * Tennyson
  • an abbot on an ambling pad
  • (British, obsolete) A robber that infests the road on foot; a highwayman or footpad.
  • (Gay)
    (Byron)
  • The act of highway robbery.
  • Etymology 4

    an alteration of (ped).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialectal) A type of wickerwork basket, especially as used as a measure of fish or other goods.
  • (Simmonds)

    Etymology 5

    partly from (etyl), partly imitative.

    Verb

    (padd)
  • To travel along (a road, path etc.).
  • * Somerville
  • Padding the streets for half a crown.
  • To travel on foot.
  • To wear a path by walking.
  • To walk softly, quietly or steadily, especially without shoes.
  • * 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
  • Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses, while the Rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuck out...
  • (obsolete) To practise highway robbery.
  • * (Cotton Mather)
  • Their chief Argument is, That they never saw'' any Witches, therefore there are ''none''. Just as if you or I should say, We never met with any ''Robbers'' on the Road, therefore there never was any ''Padding there.

    Etymology 6

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • I heard her soft footsteps, pad''', '''pad along the corridor.

    Noun

    (-)
  • The sound of soft footsteps, or a similar noise made by an animal etc.
  • Anagrams

    * * * * English three-letter words ----