Etymology From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).
A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
And there the heathen Prince, Arviragus, / Gave him an isle of marsh whereon to build; / And there he built with wattles from the marsh / A little lonely church in days of yore, […]1874, Alfred Tennyson, “The Holy Grail”, in Idylls of the King (The Works of Alfred Tennyson; VI), cabinet edition, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], →OCLC, page 104:
2
A single twig or rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.
3
A wrinkled fold of skin, sometimes brightly coloured, hanging from the neck of birds (such as chicken and turkey) and some lizards.
4
A barbel of a fish.
5
A decorative fleshy appendage on the neck of a goat.
6
Loose hanging skin in the neck of a person.
The buttons below his waddle open to reveal a ruddy V, tidemark of the sun.2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa:
7
Any of several Australian trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia, or their bark, used in tanning, seen as a national emblem of Australia.
The tents and sheets are made of the best Canadian duck, tanned for the purpose of preservation with a strong extract of iron-bark and wattle-bark.1901, “Progress in the Fruit Industry of Queensland”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, page 16:
"Tip me your wattles, my pal, and touch my whids, or I'll make you whindle like a kinchin," give me your ears and take my words, or I'll make you snivel like a child.1859, George Washington Matsell, Vocabulum; or The Rogue's Lexicon:
Wat. A hare, from his wattles, i. e. long ears.1883, Albert Ellery Berg, The Universal Self-instructor and Manual of General Reference, page 224:
Etymology From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).
1
To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.