willow

Etymology

From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English welig, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”).

noun

1. Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.
2. The wood of these trees.
3. (cricket, colloquial) A cricket bat.
4. (baseball, slang, 1800s) The baseball bat.
5. A rotating spiked drum used to open and clean cotton heads.

verb

1. (transitive) To open and cleanse (cotton, flax, wool, etc.) by means of a willow.
2. (intransitive) To form a shape or move in a way similar to the long, slender branches of a willow.
   Willowing over the rough cobbles of the little pier stepped a thin, bent figure, adorned with a silver nannygoat’s beard and bobbling eyes interrupted by the rim of a pair of pince-nez. 1928, Robert Byron, chapter 12, in The Station: Travels to the Holy Mountain of Greece
   Joe’s impulse was to sketch her, with her shadow willowing beyond her on the mouse-gray paving-stone; but his left fist, obeying instinct, remained clenched behind his back […] 1930, Talbot Mundy, chapter 7, in Black Light
   It was floating a foot under the surface. The eyes were holes. The mouth was a slit cavern of darkness. The hair willowed around the scalp. 1985, Martin Booth, Hiroshima Joe, New York: Picador, page 394
   The draft-drawn smoke willowed down through the hole and across my face, but I didn’t worry about coughing or sneezing. 2013, Dean Koontz, Wilderness, Bantam Books