palm
Forms
- Plural
- palms
- present (v1)
- palm
- past (v2)
- palmed
- past participle (v3)
- palmed
- present participle
- palming
- 3rd person singular
- palms
Definitions
1.Any of various evergreen trees from the family Palmae or Arecaceae, which are mainly found in the tropics.
2.Triumph; victory.
3.Any of the twenty-three awards that can be earned after obtaining the Eagle Scout rank, but generally only before turning eighteen years old.
4.A branch or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing.
- A great multitude […] stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palmes in their hands.
1.To hold something without bending the fingers significantly.
2.To hold or conceal something in the palm of the hand, e.g., for an act of sleight of hand or to steal something.
3.To move something with the palm of the hand.
- The home side's goalkeeper Asmir Begovic managed to palm the drive on to the post but the sheer pace of the shot forced the ball into the net.
4.To use one's palm as identification to get through a door or security checkpoint.
- She palmed the door as she talked to the security guard.
- I palmed in to work.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2693
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Etymology
From Middle English palme, from Old English palm, palma (“palm-tree, palm-branch”), from Latin palma (“palm-tree, palm-branch, palm of the hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂meh₂, *pl̥h₂emeh₂ (“palm of the hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”).