paddock
paddock Lexical Profile
paddock Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A small, fenced field or enclosure near a stable or house, used primarily for grazing, exercising, or keeping horses and other livestock.
"The thoroughbreds were turned out into the grassy paddock for their morning exercise."
An enclosed area at a racecourse or motorsport circuit where horses are saddled and paraded, or where racing cars are parked and serviced before a race.
"Spectators gathered around the paddock to inspect the horses before placing their bets."
Australian Any fenced field, plot, or parcel of agricultural land, regardless of its size (also common in New Zealand).
"The sheep were moved to the back paddock before the seasonal rains arrived."
Scottish A frog or toad, belonging to the amphibian order Anura (now chiefly Scottish and northern English dialect).
"An old stone wall by the burn served as a damp shelter for a speckled paddock."
• verb
To confine, keep, or enclose horses or livestock in a paddock.
"The stable hands paddocked the mares together for the night."
• Rhymes for paddock
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The enclosure sense is a 16th-century alteration of earlier 'parrock', from Old English 'pearroc' (a fence or enclosed tract of land), which is also the root of 'park'. The dialectal sense meaning 'frog' or 'toad' is an unrelated homonym from Middle English 'paddok', a diminutive of 'padde' (toad), of Old Norse origin.