| Principal Translations |
| palo nm | (pieza de madera cilíndrica) | stick n |
| | En las fiestas, los niños esperan ansiosos su turno para pegarle con un palo a la piñata hasta romperla. |
| | The children at the party wait their turn to hit the piñata with a stick. |
| palo nm | (mástil) | mast n |
| | El palo mayor es el más alto del barco. |
| | The main mast is the tallest mast on the ship. |
| palo nm | (naipes: oros, copas, espadas, bastos) (Cards) | suit n |
| | En la cartomancia el palo de oros se refiere a cuestiones monetarias. |
| | In a deck of Tarot cards, the suit that relates to money issues is called coins. |
| palo nm | (instrumento para jugar golf) (Golf) | club n |
| | En el golf, cada palo solía recibir un nombre distinto pero ahora se usan números para identificarlos. |
| | In golf, each club used to have a unique name, but now numbers are used to identify the clubs. |
Compound Forms:
|
| a medio palo loc adj | AmC: coloquial (sin terminar) (colloquial) | half-assed adj |
| | | halfway done adj |
| | | unfinished, incomplete adj |
| a medio palo loc adj | CU, GT: coloquial (persona: un poco ebria) | tipsy adj |
| a palo seco loc adv | (sin accesorios, directamente) | say [sth] bluntly v expr |
| | | just like that expr |
| | ¿Y me dices que mi madre ha muerto así, a palo seco? |
| | You're telling me bluntly like this that my mother has died? |
| a palo seco loc adv | (sin comer) (drink) | straight adv |
| | | on its own expr |
| | Se bebió tres chupitos de tequila a palo seco, sin comer nada. |
| | He downed three straight tequila shots without eating anything. |
| a palo seco loc adv | (embarcación: velas recogidas) | under bare poles expr |
| | Se ve que la embarcación está a palo seco, tiene todas las velas recogidas. |
| | You can see that the boat is sailing under bare poles. The sails are all gathered up. |
| a palo seco loc adv | (sin beber) | dry adv |
| | Se comió una caja de polvorones a palo seco. No sé cómo no se atragantó. |
| | He ate a whole box of sugar cookies dry. I don't know why he didn't choke. |
buscarle la comba al palo,
encontrarle la comba al palo loc verb | CO: coloquial (hallar la solución más fácil) | look for the silver bullet v expr |
cada palo que aguante su vela,
que cada palo aguante su vela expr | coloquial (cada quien responda por sus actos) | everyone is responsible for their own actions expr |
| cagar el palo loc verb | MX: vulgar (molestar, resultar fastidioso) | annoy the hell out of v expr |
| | | bug⇒, needle⇒ vi |
| cara de palo loc nom f | (cara inexpresiva) | wooden face, wooden expression adj + n |
| | | straight face, deadpan face adj + n |
| cara de palo loc nom mf | AR, EC: coloquial, desaprobación (persona caradura) | shameless person, cynical person n |
| dar palo loc verb | ES: coloquial (causar vergüenza) | be embarrassing vi + adj |
| | | be ashamed of [sth], ashamed of [sb] v expr |
| | | hide your face in shame v expr |
| | Da palo copiarse en un examen y que te descubran. |
| | Copying in an exam and getting caught is embarrassing. |
| dar palo loc verb | ES: coloquial (dar flojera) (colloquial) | suck⇒ vi |
| | | not feel like expr |
| | Da palo trabajar un domingo. |
| | Me da palo leer este mensaje tan largo. |
| | Working on Sunday sucks. |
| | I don't feel like reading such a long message. |
"De tal palo,
tal astilla" expr | coloquial (el hijo es como sus padres) (figurative) | chip off the old block expr |
| | (male) | like father like son expr |
| | (female) | like mother like daughter expr |
| | (US) | the apple doesn't fall far from the tree expr |
| | Al igual que su padre, Camilo odia la playa: de tal palo, tal astilla. |
| | Just like his father, Camilo hates the beach. He's a chip off the old block. |
| en casa de herrero cuchillo de palo expr | (el experto falla) | the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot expr |
| | Se supone que Tomás es un excelente mecánico, pero mira la chatarra que conduce: en casa de herrero cuchillo de palo. |
| | Thomas is supposed to be an excellent mechanic, but look at the heap of junk he drives around in: the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot. |
| jarabe de palo nm | (castigo físico) (corporal punishment) | thrashing n |
| | | beating n |
| | | lesson n |
| | A ti lo que te hace falta es un poco de jarabe de palo. |
| | What you need is a thrashing. |
| miel de palo nf + loc adj | (tipo de miel) | honeycomb n |
| | La miel de palo tiene más propiedades medicinales. |
| mierda pinchada en un palo expr | vulgar (una porquería) (vulgar) | a piece of s*** n |
| | | s*** on a stick n |
| | Este trabajo es una mierda pinchada en un palo. |
| | This job is a piece of shit. |
| | This job is shit on a stick. |
| no dar ni palo expr | coloquial (no trabajar en absoluto) | not lift a finger v expr |
| | | not do a stroke of work v expr |
| | Laura no dio ni palo durante un año y ahora le cuesta conseguir trabajo. |
| | Laura hasn't lifted a finger for a year and now she's struggling to find a job. |
| no dar un palo al agua expr | coloquial (no trabajar en absoluto) | not lift a finger expr |
| | (UK) | never do a stroke of work expr |
| | (US) | never do an ounce of work expr |
| | Esa joven no da un palo al agua porque sus padres hacen todo por ella. |
| | That young girl doesn't lift a finger because her parents do everything for her. |
rosa palo,
palo de rosa loc nom m | (tono de rosado) | blush, pink blush n |
| | Mis hijas quieren pintar las paredes de su habitación de rosa palo. |