What does "paddock" mean?
A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
Paddock
/ˈpædək/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
- Grammar: paddock is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: amphibian, barnyards, batrachian, enclosed.
- Useful contrasts: open, open field, unenclosed.
- Usage evidence: The cows escaped from the paddock.
How to use "paddock"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "paddock" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "paddock" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "paddock" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals. also, figuratively
"Upon this information, they instantly passed through the hall once more, and ran across the lawn after their father, who was deliberately pursuing his way towards a small wood on one side of the paddock."
- 2 A frog. Australia, New-Zealand, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, transitive
"Cold as a paddock."
- 3 pen where racehorses are saddled and paraded before a race wordnet
- 4 An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race. broadly
"We left the carriage, bought programmes, and walked across the infield and then across the smooth thick turf of the course to the paddock. […] The paddock was fairly well filled with people and they were walking the horses around in a ring under the trees behind the grand stand."
- 5 A toad. Australia, New-Zealand, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, transitive
"Where I was wont to ſeeke the honey Bee, / Working her formall rowmes in Wexen frame: / The grieſlie Todeſtoole growne there mought I ſe / And loathed Paddocks lording on the ſame."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles are parked and worked on before and between races. broadly
- 7 A contemptible, or malicious or nasty, person. Australia, New-Zealand, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, derogatory, transitive
"[T]here was grandfaither's siller tester in the puddock’s heart of him."
- 8 A field on which a game is played; a playing field. broadly, slang
- 9 A simple, usually triangular, sledge which is dragged along the ground to transport items. Australia, New-Zealand, Scotland, transitive
- 10 A field of grassland of any size, either enclosed by fences or delimited by geographical boundaries, especially a large area for keeping cattle or sheep. Australia, New-Zealand, broadly
- 11 A place in a superficial deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc. Australia, New-Zealand, broadly
Verb
- 1 To place or keep (cattle, horses, sheep, or other animals) within a paddock (noun sense 1 or 2.4); hence, to provide (such animals) with pasture. Australia, New-Zealand, transitive
"In the district of which I am speaking the sheep are all "paddocked," —that is to say, kept in by fences—so that shepherding is unnecessary."
- 2 To enclose or fence in (land) to form a paddock. Australia, New-Zealand, transitive
"When a run is "paddocked," shepherds are not required;—but boundary-riders are employed, each of whom is supplied with two horses, and these men are responsible not only for the sheep but for the fences."
- 3 To excavate washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) from (a superficial deposit). Australia, New-Zealand, also, intransitive, transitive
- 4 To store (ore, washdirt, etc.) in a paddock (noun sense 2.5). Australia, New-Zealand, obsolete, transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 An English surname.
"But 64-year-old Stephen C. Paddock flew low under the radar. He avoided interaction with many of the people around him, and his manner was direct and brusque."
Antonyms
Example
"The cows escaped from the paddock."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "paddock"?
Common synonyms include: amphibian, barnyards, batrachian, enclosed, enclosure, enclosures.
How do you use "paddock" in a sentence?
The cows escaped from the paddock.
How do you pronounce "paddock"?
Pronounced /ˈpædək/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The noun is almost certainly a variant of dialectal British parrock (“enclosure; park; croft, small field, paddock”), from Middle English parrok, parrock (“enclosed pasture, paddock; coop; feeding stall; cabin, hut”) [and other forms], from Old English pearroc, pearruc (“fence used to enclose a space; area enclosed by such a fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *parruk (“enclosure; pen for animals”), from Proto-Germanic *parrukaz (“fence; enclosure”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *barō (“bar, beam; barrier”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce; to strike”). Equivalent to park + -ock. Doublet of park. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Danish park (“pond”) * Dutch perk (“flowerbed; garden; pen”) * German Pferch (“sheepfold, sheep-pen”)
Etymology 2
From Middle English paddok, paddoke (“frog; toad”) [and other forms], from pad, pade (“frog; toad”) + -ok (diminutive suffix). Pad, pade is derived from Old English *pada, *padda, padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”); further etymology uncertain, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to swell”). The English word is analysable as pad (“(Britain, dialectal) frog; toad”) + -ock (suffix forming nouns, originally with diminutive senses). Sense 2 (“sledge”) is probably from the supposed resemblance of the object to a frog or toad.
Etymology 3
See paddock.