A punkah is, by some, used instead of a chattah, (or umbrella); but it is very inferior as a defence against either sun, wind, or rain.
Source: wiktionary
Punkah
//ˈpʌŋkə//
Synonyms for "punkah" (3 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Related word relations
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More general
1 entriesderived
1 entrieshas context
1 entriesis a
1 entriesrelated to
5 entriesTranslations
7 translations across 6 languages.
Burmese
1 entries- ပန်ကာ noun (fan)
French
1 entries- panka noun (fan)
German
1 entries- Pankha noun (fan)
Hindi
1 entries- पंखा noun (fan)
Russian
2 entries- опаха́ло noun (fan)
- панкха́ noun (fan)
Urdu
1 entries- پنکھا noun (fan)
Sample sentences
4 total sentences available.
Outside the court the sun blazed—within was the wind of great punkahs that made you shiver …
Source: wiktionary
In the refreshment room a few would-be passengers were cooled by the punkah, worked by a string tied to the big toe of a sleepy Burmese boy.
Source: wiktionary
Perhaps it was a mistake to invite Mr Stanhope; the day was intolerably hot and humid; all he wanted to do was to lie on his bed with a punkah sighing over him, at least moving the unbreathable air.
Source: wiktionary
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.