the whitish wood of certain of these trees something made of willow wood, such as a cricket or baseball bat a machine having a system of revolving spikes for opening and cleaning raw textile fibres
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
wil•low /ˈwɪloʊ/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Plant Biology[countable] a tree or shrub with lance-shaped leaves and tough twigs, used esp. for wickerwork.
- [uncountable] the wood of a willow.
wil•low
(wil′ō),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
wil′low•like′, adj.
wil′low•ish, adj.
- Plant Biologyany tree or shrub of the genus Salix, characterized by narrow, lance-shaped leaves and dense catkins bearing small flowers, many species having tough, pliable twigs or branches used for wickerwork, etc. Cf. willow family.
- the wood of any of these trees.
- Informal Termssomething, esp. a cricket bat, made of willow wood.
- TextilesAlso called willower, willy. a machine consisting essentially of a cylinder armed with spikes revolving within a spiked casing, for opening and cleaning cotton or other fiber.
v.t.
- Textilesto treat (textile fibers) with a willow.
- bef. 900; Middle English wilwe, variant of wilghe, Old English welig; cognate with Old Saxon wilgia, Dutch wilg, Low German wilge
wil′low•ish, adj.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a small town in S Alaska, about 113 km (70 miles) northwest of Anchorage: chosen as the site of the projected new state capital in 1976, a plan which never came to fruition. Pop: 1658 (2000)