paddy

1 of 2

noun (1)

pad·​dy ˈpa-dē How to pronounce paddy (audio)
variants or less commonly padi
plural paddies also padis
1
: rice
especially : threshed unmilled rice
2
: wet land in which rice is grown

Paddy

2 of 2

noun (2)

Pad·​dy ˈpa-dē How to pronounce Paddy (audio)
plural Paddies
slang, often disparaging + offensive

Examples of paddy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
There are five different categories of tents (including rainforest tents, river tents, and terrace tents near the rice paddy fields), and each one comes with its own scenic deck and saltwater pool. Annie Daly, Robb Report, 8 Mar. 2024 To meet the challenge of pinpointing where emissions are occurring and how much is being produced, Climate TRACE tracks an expanding range of sources including power and manufacturing facilities, cattle raising and rice paddies, and shipping and aviation. Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jan. 2024 In China, about 40 percent of methane comes from coal mines and 42 percent from livestock, rice paddies and other agricultural sources, according to estimates by Chinese researchers. Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 1 Dec. 2023 The train meanders through the rice paddies and jungles of Malaysia, over the legendary River Kwai in Thailand, passing by hilltop pagodas. Shraddha Chowdhury, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Dec. 2023 These walls carve out spaces for roads and houses, and define irregular terraced rice paddies farther up in the mountains. Hannah Kirshner, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2023 When compared to the ground-truth data as well as competing deep-learning and unsupervised models, the team found their model had high accuracy and outperformed the non-time-sensitive models, which make mistakes like incorrectly identifying a rice paddy as a flooded area. IEEE Spectrum, 7 Dec. 2023 In the past, if a stone wall along a rice paddy or road collapsed, the community would gather to repair it. Hannah Kirshner, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2023 They’re often known by different names—like the paddy, golf, or even driving cap—and telling them apart can be like differentiating between identical twins. Rachel Besser, Vogue, 14 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paddy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Malay padi

Noun (2)

from Paddy, Hiberno-English nickname for Patrick

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1623, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1714, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of paddy was in 1623

Dictionary Entries Near paddy

Cite this Entry

“Paddy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paddy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

paddy

noun
pad·​dy ˈpad-ē How to pronounce paddy (audio)
plural paddies
: wet land in which rice is grown

More from Merriam-Webster on paddy

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