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Webster 1913 Edition

Willow

Wil′low

,
Noun.
[OE.
wilowe
,
wilwe
, AS.
wilig
,
welig
; akin to OD.
wilge
, D.
wilg
, LG.
wilge
. Cf.
Willy
.]
1.
(Bot.)
Any tree or shrub of the genus
Salix
, including many species, most of which are characterized often used as an emblem of sorrow, desolation, or desertion. “A wreath of willow to show my forsaken plight.”
Sir W. Scott.
Hence, a lover forsaken by, or having lost, the person beloved, is said to wear the willow.
And I must
wear the willow
garland
For him that’s dead or false to me.
Campbell.
2.
(Textile Manuf.)
A machine in which cotton or wool is opened and cleansed by the action of long spikes projecting from a drum which revolves within a box studded with similar spikes; – probably so called from having been originally a cylindrical cage made of willow rods, though some derive the term from winnow, as denoting the winnowing, or cleansing, action of the machine. Called also
willy
,
twilly
,
twilly devil
, and
devil
.
Almond willow
,
Pussy willow
,
Weeping willow
.
(Bot.)
See under
Almond
,
Pussy
, and
Weeping
.
–
Willow biter
(Zool.)
the blue tit.
[Prov. Eng.]
–
Willow fly
(Zool.)
,
a greenish European stone fly (
Chloroperla viridis
); – called also
yellow Sally
.
–
Willow gall
(Zool.)
,
a conical, scaly gall produced on willows by the larva of a small dipterous fly (
Cecidomyia strobiloides
).
–
Willow grouse
(Zool.)
,
the white ptarmigan. See
ptarmigan
.
–
Willow lark
(Zool.)
,
the sedge warbler.
[Prov. Eng.]
–
Willow ptarmigan
(Zool.)
(a)
The European reed bunting, or black-headed bunting. See under
Reed
.
(b)
A sparrow (
Passer salicicolus
) native of Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe.
–
Willow tea
,
the prepared leaves of a species of willow largely grown in the neighborhood of Shanghai, extensively used by the poorer classes of Chinese as a substitute for tea.
McElrath.
–
Willow thrush
(Zool.)
,
a variety of the veery, or Wilson's thrush. See
Veery
.
–
Willow warbler
(Zool.)
,
a very small European warbler (
Phylloscopus trochilus
); – called also
bee bird
,
haybird
,
golden wren
,
pettychaps
,
sweet William
,
Tom Thumb
, and
willow wren
.

Wil′low

,
Verb.
T.
To open and cleanse, as cotton, flax, or wool, by means of a willow. See
Willow
,
Noun.
, 2.

Webster 1828 Edition

Willow

WILLOW

,
Noun.
[L.] A tree of the genus Salix. There are several species of willow, the white, the black, the purple or red, the sallow, and the broad leaved willow, &c. A species called the weeping willow, has long and slender branches which droop and hang downward, the Salix Babylonica.

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