paddock

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”). Doublet of park. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Danish park (“pond”) * Dutch perk (“flowerbed; garden; pen”) * German Pferch (“sheepfold, sheep-pen”)

noun

1. (also figurative) A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
2. (by extension)
   1. (horse racing) An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race.
   2. (motor racing) An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles are parked and worked on before and between races.
   3. (sports, slang) A field on which a game is played; a playing field.
   4. (Australia, New Zealand) 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.
   5. (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, mining) 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.

verb

1. (often passive) 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.
2. To enclose or fence in (land) to form a paddock.
3. (mining)
   1. (also intransitive) To excavate washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) from (a superficial deposit).
   2. (obsolete) To store (ore, washdirt, etc.) in a paddock (noun sense 2.5).

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.

noun

1. (chiefly Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland)
   1. A frog.
      Cold as a paddock.
   2. A toad.
   3. (derogatory) A contemptible, or malicious or nasty, person.
2. (Scotland) A simple, usually triangular, sledge which is dragged along the ground to transport items.