Willow

Willow, wil′ō, n. any tree or shrub of the genus Salix, having slender, pliant branches: the wood of the willow: a cricket-bat.—v.t. to beat with willow rods, as in cleaning cotton, &c.—adj. Will′owed, abounding with, or containing, willows.—n. Will′ow-herb, a perennial herb (Epilobium) of the evening primrose family—also Rose-bay, Bay-willow, French or Persian willow.—adj. Will′owish, like a willow, slender and supple.—ns. Will′ow-machine′, a machine for extracting dirt from hemp, cotton, &c.—also Will′ow; Will′ow-moth, a common British night-moth; Will′ow-war′bler, -wren, a small European sylviine bird; Will′ow-weed, one of various species of Polygonum or knot-weed: the purple loose-strife.—adj. Will′owy, abounding in willows: flexible, graceful.—n. Weep′ing-will′ow, a very ornamental species, a native of the East, much planted in Britain on account of its beautiful pendent twigs.—Bedford willow, a species whose bark is especially rich in salicin and in tannin; White, or Huntingdon, willow, the largest of British species, reaching a height of eighty feet. [A.S. welig; Low Ger. wilge, Dut. wilg.]