Wattle

n. [ AS. watel, watul, watol, hurdle, covering, wattle; cf. OE. watel a bag. Cf. Wallet. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A twig or flexible rod; hence, a hurdle made of such rods. [ 1913 Webster ]

And there he built with wattles from the marsh
A little lonely church in days of yore. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A rod laid on a roof to support the thatch. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) (a) A naked fleshy, and usually wrinkled and highly colored, process of the skin hanging from the chin or throat of a bird or reptile. (b) Barbel of a fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (a) The astringent bark of several Australian trees of the genus Acacia, used in tanning; -- called also wattle bark. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Material consisting of wattled twigs, withes, etc., used for walls, fences, and the like. “The pailsade of wattle.” Frances Macnab. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

6. (Bot.) In Australasia, any tree of the genus Acacia; -- so called from the wattles, or hurdles, which the early settlers made of the long, pliable branches or of the split stems of the slender species. The bark of such trees is also called wattle. See also Savanna wattle, under Savanna. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

Wattle turkey. (Zool.) Same as Brush turkey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) Any one of several species of honey eaters belonging to Anthochaera and allied genera of the family Meliphagidae. These birds usually have a large and conspicuous wattle of naked skin hanging down below each ear. They are natives of Australia and adjacent islands. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The best-known species (Anthochaera carunculata) has the upper parts grayish brown, with a white stripe on each feather, and the wing and tail quills dark brown or blackish, tipped with withe. Its wattles, in life, are light blood-red. Called also wattled crow, wattled bee-eater, wattled honey eater. Another species (Anthochaera inauris) is streaked with black, gray, and white, and its long wattles are white, tipped with orange. The bush wattlebirds, belonging to the genus Anellobia, are closely related, but lack conspicuous wattles. The most common species (Anthochaera mellivora) is dark brown, finely streaked with white. Called also goruck creeper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The Australian brush turkey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Furnished with wattles, or pendent fleshy processes at the chin or throat. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wattled cocks strut to and fro. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]