wattle

Etymology

From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).

noun

1. A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
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

verb

1. (transitive) To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.
2. (transitive) To bind with wattles or twigs.