different between pillow vs willow

English

Etymology

From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pylwe, pylu, pyle (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulw? (“pillow”), from Latin pulv?nus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust, powder”) +? -?nus (“-ine”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?l??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?lo?/
• (US, dialectal) IPA^(key): /?p?lo?/
• Rhymes: -?l??

Noun

pillow (countable and uncountable, plural pillows)

1. A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     And it is a pillow!

2. (geology) A pillow lava.
3. (engineering) A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block.
4. (nautical) A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.
5. The socket of a pivot.
6. (uncountable) A kind of plain, coarse fustian.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Maori: pera

Translations

Verb

pillow (third-person singular simple present pillows, present participle pillowing, simple past and past participle pillowed)

1. (transitive) To rest as on a pillow.
   • 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Canongate 2006, p. 815-6)

     She had pillowed her head on her arm.

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?l.??/
• Rhymes: -?l??
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?lo?/
• Rhymes: -?lo?

Noun

willow (countable and uncountable, plural willows)

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.

   • […] and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows.

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.

Synonyms

• withy

Derived terms

• French willow
• Red Willow County
• Red Willow Creek
• weeping willow
• willow in the wind

Translations

Verb

willow (third-person singular simple present willows, present participle willowing, simple past and past participle willowed)

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.
   • 1928, Robert Byron, The Station: Travels to the Holy Mountain of Greece, Chapter 12,^[1]

     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.

   • 1930, Talbot Mundy, Black Light, Chapter 7,^[2]

     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 […]

   • 1985, Martin Booth, Hiroshima Joe, New York: Picador, p. 394,^[3]

     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.

   • 2013, Dean Koontz, Wilderness, Bantam Books,^[4]

     The draft-drawn smoke willowed down through the hole and across my face, but I didn’t worry about coughing or sneezing.