palm--prophetes.ai

▪ I. palm, n.¹
    (pɑːm)
    Also 4–7 palme, 9 dial. paum.
    [OE. palm str. m., palma wk. masc., and palme wk. fem. = OS. palma fem., OHG. palma fem., MHG. palme fem. and masc., ON. pálmr masc., all a. L. palma; ME. palme agreeing also with F. palme (12th c. in Littré), ad. L. palma (instead of the inherited OF. form paume). L. palma was a transf. sense of palma palm of the hand, expanded hand: see palm n.²]
    1. a. Any tree or shrub of the family Palmæ or Palmaceæ, a large family of monocotyledons, widely distributed in warm climates, chiefly within the tropics, remarkable for their ornamental forms and various usefulness to man.
    They have the stem usually upright and unbranched, a head or crown of very large pinnate or fan-shaped leaves, and fruit of various forms (nut, drupe, or berry). In different species, the fruit-pulp, seed, pith, head of young leaves, or young root is used as food (e.g. date-palm, coco-nut, sago-palm, cabbage-palm, palmyra-palm); oil is obtained from the fruit (oil-palm) or seed (coco-nut); wine (toddy) and sugar (jaggery) from the sap; fibre from the leaf-stalk (date-palm, kittul) or fruit-husk (coco-nut); the wood is used for building and other purposes; the leaves for thatching, and for making paper, hats, baskets, etc.; with various other uses. The palm of Scripture is the date-palm. The only European species of the family is Chamærops humilis, the Dwarf Fan Palm of Southern Europe.

c 825 Vesp. Psalter xci. 13 Se rehtwisa swe swe palma bloweð. c 950 in Rit. Dunelm. (Surtees) 65 Swælce pælm' [L. quasi palma]. Ibid. 95 Pælma' [L. palmarum]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xii. 13 ᵹenomon tuicgo ðara palmana & foerdon toᵹænes him. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 402 Se palm is siᵹe-beacen. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 379/113 A ȝeord of palm cam in is hond. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xci[i]. 12 Þe rightwis as palme sall floryss. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xxiii. 40 And ȝe shulen take to ȝow.. the braunches of palmes. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. vi. 91 The palme ek now men setteth forth to stonde. 1535 Coverdale Judg. iv. 5 She dwelt vnder y⊇ palme of Debbora betwene Rama & Bethel. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 647 A pot of Wine of Palme, or Cocoa, which they draw forth of Trees. 1635–56 Cowley Davideis i. Note 7 In the publique Games of Greece, Palm was made the sign and reward of Victory. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 678 And from the palm to draw its freshening wine! 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 102 Of the many species of palms, the date and the cocoa-nut palm are the most distinctive.

b. Applied fig. to a person.

1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxvi. 21 Princes [= princess] of peiss, and palme imperiall. 1607 Shakes. Timon v. i. 13 You shall see him a Palme in Athens againe. 1860 J. W. Warter Sea-board & Down II. 350 Hear what the palm and prince of Knighthood said.

c. With defining words, denoting various species of the family Palmæ, as bamboo palm, broom palm, catechu palm, dragon's-blood palm, feather palm, etc. (see quots.); also occasionally plants of other families, as club palm, the genus Cordyline (family Liliaceæ), also called palm-lily (see 7); fern-palm, a general name for the family Cycadeæ, from their resemblance to both palms and ferns. See also cabbage-palm, coco-nut, cohune, coquito, date, fan, hemp, ita, ivory, oil, sago-palm, etc., etc.

1866 Treas. Bot. 960/1 R[aphia] vinifera, the Bamboo Palm... The Africans..make very pliable cloth and neat baskets of the undeveloped leaves. Ibid. 1147/2 T[hrinax] argentea is..a native of Panama, where it is called Palma de escoba, or Broom-palm, its leaves being there made into brooms. Ibid. 837/1 Catechu Palm, Areca Catechu. Ibid. 88/1 A sort of Catechu is furnished by boiling down the seeds of this palm. Ibid. 379/2 D[æmonorops] Draco (formerly Calamus Draco)..is called the Dragon's Blood Palm,..its fruits yielding a portion of the substance known..as dragon's blood. 1884 Miller Plant-n., Cordyline, Club Palm, Palm-Lily. Ibid., Ptychosperma, Australian Feather⁓palm. Ibid., Cycadeæ, Fern-Palms. Cycas revoluta, Fern-Palm, or Sago-Palm, of Japan.

2. A ‘branch’ or leaf of the palm-tree, esp. as anciently carried or worn as a symbol of victory or triumph, and on festal occasions (as still in the Roman and Greek Churches), or in mediæval times by pilgrims (palmer n.¹ 1). (See also 4.)

c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 89 Þet folc com toȝenes him mid blostmen and mid palmes. a 1300 Cursor M. 20161 Tak þis palme her in þi hand. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xii. 9 Clothid, with whijte stoolis, and palmes in the hondis of hem. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1174 Hauyng in her hande the palme of vyctory. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 419 But a preste, þat a palmare was A palme in his hande he hadde. 1645 Evelyn Diary 17 Apr., The Pope's benediction of the Gonfalone, or Standard, and giving the hallowed palmes. 1700 Dryden Palamon & Arcite iii. 396 And Mars..With palm and laurel shall adorn his knight. 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Holy Innocents i, Their palms and garlands telling plain, That they are of the glorious martyr train.

3. fig. Put emblematically for Victory, triumph; supreme honour or excellence, prize; esp. in such phrases as to bear the palm, yield the palm, etc.

c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 240 With the palm of martirdom Ye shullen come un-to his blisful feste. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 382 b/2 He callyd clemente fro the bottom of the see to the palme of vyctorye. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster v. i, Well said! This carries palm with it. Ibid., It still hath been a work of as much palm..as to invent or make. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. i. 170 What he shall receiue of vs in duetie, Giues vs more palme in beautie then we haue. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xxiii. 557 Actor's sons..bore The palm at horse-race. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 153 In Peace t' enjoy his former Palms and Pains. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xvii. II. 33 As an orator, he disputed the palm of eloquence with Cicero himself. 1827–35 Willis Parrhasius 160 Were there no palm beyond a feverish fame. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 151 He cannot make a speech—in this he yields the palm to Protagoras.

4. A branch or sprig of any one of several trees and shrubs substituted in northern countries, esp. in the celebrations of Palm Sunday, for the true palm; also applied to the plants themselves.
Most commonly some species of willow (or its catkins), esp. the goat-willow, Salix Caprea; also, locally, hazel, yew, laurel, larch, spruce fir, and (in America) hemlock spruce.

1375 Barbour Bruce v. 312 The folk of the cuntre Assemblit at the kirk vald be,..thar palmys to bere. 14.. Cott. MS. Claud. A. ii, lf. 52 For encheson we have non olyfe þat beruth grene leves, we takon in stede of hit hew [yew] and palmes wyth, and beruth abowte on procession, and so þis day we callyn Palme Sonnenday. 1530 Palsgr. 251/2 Palme, the yelowe that groweth on wyllowes. 1562 W. Bullein Def. agst. Sickness, Compounds 40 Woolly knottes, growing upon sallowes, commonly called palmes. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 187 Looke heere what I found on a Palme tree. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 330 Palms, the white excrescencies of Buds of Sallies or Withy coming before the leaf. 1779 Gentl. Mag. Dec. 580/1 [Yew-trees in East Kent are] to this day universally called palms. 1864 Holme Lee Silver Age (1866) 475 The palms were budding downy and gray in the narrow copse. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Palms, small branches of the Spruce fir, also budded twigs of the willow. These are supplied on Palm Sunday to persons attending service in the Roman Catholic Churches. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad x, Afield for palms the girls repair, And sure enough the palms are there.

† 5. A branch (of a tree); in quot. 1796, a ‘branch’ or leaf of the palm-tree (= sense 2). Obs.

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 201 Couered with leaues and palmes of trees. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 530 The stellated and radiating forms of it's palms, likewise taken from the straight line, constitute a very agreeable opposition with the roundness of it's stem.

† 6. Short for palm-wine, or palm-sack (see sack).

1708 W. King Cookery iv, Two bottles of smooth Palm or Anjou white shall give a welcome. 1725 Welsted Oikographie 12 Nor Cyprus soft, the Lover's Balm, Is here; nor Vine sirnam'd the Palm.

7. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib., as palm awning, palm bark, palm bough, palm-fibre, palm-flower, palm-frond, palm-grove, palm-nut, palm-sap, palm-stem, palm-thatch, palm-trunk, palm-twig, palm-wood. b. objective, instrumental, similative, etc., as palm-bearing, palm-bowered, palm-crowned, palm-flanked, palm-fringed, palm-graced, palm-like, palm-lined, palm-o'erspread, palm-rising, palm-shaded, palm-thatched adjs. c. Special Combs.: † palm-bag, the fibrous spathe of the flower-spike of a species of palm, Manicaria saccifera, of the Lower Amazon, which forms a bag or cap; also called palm-net and palm-sack; palm-bark-tree, an Australian shrub, Melaleuca Wilsoni (Miller Plant-n. 1884); palm-bird, a weaver-bird which nests in palm-trees; palm-borer = palm-grub; palm bottom, a hollow or valley in which palms grow; palm-branch, a leaf of the palm-tree with its stalk, used as a symbol of victory, as a decoration, etc. (see 2); palm-butter, palm-oil in the solid state; palm-cabbage, the terminal bud or head of young leaves in various species of palm, eaten as a vegetable (see cabbage-tree); palm-cat, (a) a viverrine animal of the genus Paradoxurus or sub-family Paradoxurinæ, which frequents palm-trees; (b) the ocelot; palm-civet = palm-cat (a); palm-colour, used to render Gr. ϕοῖνιξ a dark-red colour (first used by the Phœnicians), taken as if from ϕοῖνιξ date-palm; palm-crab, the tree-crab (Birgus latro), which climbs palm-trees for the fruit; palm-fern, a name for the Cycadeæ (= fern-palm: see 1 c); palm-grub, the larva of a palm-weevil; palm-heart = palm-cabbage (cf. heart n. 18); palm-honey: see quot.; palm-house, a glass house for growing palms and other tropical plants; palm-hut, a small cabin made from palm-trees; palm-kale, a variety of cabbage with a stem 10 or 12 feet high and a crown of leaves like a palm; palm-kernel, the kernel of the drupaceous fruit of the Oil Palm (Elæis guineensis), which yields an oil (palm-kernel oil); palm-lily, name for the palm-like liliaceous plants of the genus Cordyline and allied genera (Miller 1884); palm-marten = palm-cat (a); † palm-net = palm-bag; palm-room, a room, usu. in a hotel, adorned by potted palms; palm-soap, a soap made from palm-oil; † palm-sack = palm-bag; palm-squirrel, a small, greyish-brown, tree squirrel with three white stripes along its back, belonging to the genus Funambulus, esp. F. palmarum, which is found in India; palm-stand, a stand for supporting a palm grown in a plant-pot; palm-sugar, the sugar procured from palm-sap, esp. that of Caryota urens: see jaggery; palm-swift, a small Jamaican swift (Micropus phœnicobia) which nests in palm-leaves; palm toddy: see quot.; palm-viper, a venomous serpent of South America (Lachesis or Craspedocephalus bilineatus); palm-warbler, a bird (Dendrœca palmarum) common in the eastern United States; palm-wasp, a kind of wasp (Polybius palmarum) which makes its nest in palm-trees; palm-wax, a waxy substance produced by various species of palm, esp. Ceroxylon andicola; palm-weevil, any one of various weevils whose larvæ bore into palm-trees; palm-willow, any species of willow the sprigs of which are used instead of palm-branches (see 4), esp. Salix Caprea; palm-wine, wine made from the sap of the palm-tree; palm-withy = palm-willow; palm-worm, (a) some large American centipede; (b) = palm-grub. See also palm-cross, palm-leaf, palm-oil, etc.

1681 Grew Musæum ii. 185 The Palm-Net or *Bag..Originally, entire, like a taper'd Bag commonly call'd Hippocrates's Sleive..'Tis naturally sewed or woven together with admirable Art..Another Palm-Sack or Net, almost a yard long.

1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. viii. 210 They catch them in nets of *palm-bark.

1552 Huloet, *Palme bearynge, palmifer, palmiger. 1636 J. Trussell in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 7 Carnivalls, Palme and Rush-bearing, harmlesse Whitson-ales. 1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid's Met. 297 Palm⁓bearing Araby.

1902 D. G. Hogarth Nearer East 141 Stony slopes..only at very rare intervals relieved by *palm bottoms.

1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxiv, Bearing branches of yew in their hands, as the readiest substitute for *palm boughs.

1804 J. Grahame Sabbath (1808) 29 How sweet the tinkle of the *palm-bowered brook!

1535 Coverdale Neh. viii. 15 Go vp vnto y⊇ mount and fetch Olyue braunches, Pynebraunches, Myrtbraunches, *Palme⁓braunches. 1807 Robinson Archæol. Græca iii. xx. 319 The token of victory was commonly a palm-branch. 1863 M. L. Whately Ragged Life in Egypt v. 31 Dusting furniture with a palm-branch. 1914 W. Owen Let. 25 Feb. (1967) 235, I had huge success with my Costume: Nothing more elaborate than my Gown on my back a laurel wreath on my head, & a palm branch in the hand. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Woman who rode Away 16 Simply marvellous people! And the way they strewed palm-branches under her feet! 1977 H. Kaplan Damascus Cover xii. 122 He was tied to the gate of the Al-Frange Synagogue... Then he was beaten with palm branches.

1878 H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. II. xiii. 387 They brought me a mixture of india-rubber and *palm⁓butter.

1705 W. Bosman Guinea xvi. (1721) 271 At the top grows a Fruit,..called *Palm-Cabbage, because it hath a sort of Cabbagy Taste. 1827 Perils & Captivity (Constable's Misc.) 321 They were fain to subsist on a few seeds, wild fruit and the palm cabbage. 1966 E. J. H. Corner Nat. Hist. Palms iv. 93 Not all palm-cabbages are edible. 1972 J. W. Purseglove Tropical Crops: Monocotyledons II. 443 The freshly cut terminal bud [of Cocos nucifera], known as palm cabbage, is considered a delicacy and may be eaten cooked or raw.

1849–52 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 911/1 These Indian Viverridae..have been called ‘*Palm⁓cats’. 1859 Tennent Ceylon (1860) I. 144 The palm-cat..lurks by day among the fronds of the coco-nut palms, and by night makes destructive forays on the fowls.

1893–4 Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. I. 458 The *palm-civets are purely nocturnal and thoroughly aboreal in their habits.

1774 J. Bryant Mythol. I. 327 The horse was of a *Palm⁓colour, which is a bright red; we call such horses bays.

1881 Semper Anim. Life Introd. 5 Diagram of the lungs and circulation of Birgus latro, the *Palm Crab.

1895 Clodd Primer Evol. v. (1900) 54 The cycads or *palm⁓ferns, so called from their resemblance to palms, for which, with their crown of feathery leaves, they are often mistaken.

1801 Southey Thalaba iii. xviii, As patiently the Old Man Entwines the strong *palm-fibres.

1928 H. Crane Let. 31 Jan. (1965) 314 The great *palm-flanked arena of Angelus Temple.

1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 570 Some thinke they [Bees] doe not ingender, but fetch their issue,..from the *Palme-flowre.

1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 86 *Palm-fringed islets.

a 1904 N.E.D. s.v. Palm sb.¹ 7 a, *Palm frond. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling i. 5 The palm-frond mill-wheel must just brush the water's surface. 1972 ‘M. Renault’ Persian Boy xxvi. 349 He looked up at the waving palm-fronds, and played lazily with my hair. 1973 Nat. Geographic Feb. 211/1 On a plain before the fort of Rustaq, I sat on a palm-frond mat with a wiry old sheik. 1974 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 13 Oct. 20/3 (caption) Swinging from palm fronds like a teenage Tarzan, this Arab boy performs acrobatics for the benefit of admiring tourists at the oasis of Gafsa in Tunisia.

1839 Bailey Festus xx. (1848) 248 The *palm-graced pilgrims of truth's holy land.

1801 Southey Thalaba i. ii, Nor *palm⁓grove, islanded amid the waste. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. (1858) 145 From the palmgroves,..came the name of Phenicia or ‘the Land of Palms’.

[1901 tr. C. G. O. Drude in L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. III. 1193/1 [From many species are cut out the soft terminal bud (heart), which is eaten as Palm salad.] 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xx. 250 He sliced the *palm-hearts thinly. 1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird v. 67 We had palm hearts, a matter of flaccid white tubing, followed by prime rib steak. 1976 Times 1 June 6/3 We have found..tinned palm hearts and artichoke bottoms.

1866 Treas. Bot. 639/1 In Chili, a sweet syrup, called Miel de Palma, or *Palm⁓honey, is prepared by boiling the sap of [the Coquito Palm] to the consistency of treacle.

1871 Kingsley At Last xi, Let him transport his stream into the great *Palm-house at Kew.

1930 R. Macaulay Staying with Relations ii. 20 The forest would recede a little, and small clearings and plantations make themselves apparent.., with groups of *palm huts dumped among them like bee⁓hives. 1936 Discovery Dec. 382/1 A riverside palm-hut.

1885 Ogilvie, *Palm-kale, a variety of the cabbage extensively cultivated in the Channel Islands.

1863 R. F. Burton Abeokuta I. 129 The *Palm-kernel oil,..so fast becoming an important article of traffic, is of two kinds. 1899 M. Kingsley W. African Stud. App. i. 444 Two tons of palm kernels should be counted to equal one ton of palm oil so far as regards fiscal arrangements.

1819 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 163 Distinct with column, arch, and architrave, And *palm-like capital.

1884 Miller Plant-n., Cordyline, Club Palm, *Palm-Lily.

1902 D. G. Hogarth Nearer East 74 The abundant waters of its own *palm-lined defiles. 1930 R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xviii. 265 They rode into the bay, and saw before them the palm-lined harbour front of the Pacific's greatest pearl city.

1623 Bingham Xenophon 31 There was much Wheat, and Wine of Palme to be found, and Vineger boiled out of *Palme nuts. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxiii, From the ashes of those palm-nuts you could make good salt.

1735 Thomson Liberty ii. 10 Beneath the rural Portal, *Palm-o'erspread, The Father-Senate met.

1598 Tofte Alba (1880) 5 Whilst thou thy Noble House noblest indeede..through thy *Palme-rising Fame.

1903 ‘C. E. Merriman’ Lett. from Son 46, I met him in the *palm room last night. 1930 E. Pound XXX Cantos xxix. 137 ‘No not in the palm-room.’ The lady says it is Too cold in the palm-room. 1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday i. 11 In the more dimly lighted palm-room there may be a juvenile petting-party or two going on.

1846 Jewish Manual, or Pract. Information Jewish & Mod. Cookery Toilette iv. 212 *Palm soap, Castille soap..should always be preferred. 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 108/1 Palm-soap, a soda soap of palm oil. (Piesse).

1831 Proc. Zool. Soc. I. 103 The *Palm Squirrel is very abundant in gardens in Dukhun. 1891 W. T. Blanford Fauna Brit. India: Mammalia II. 384 The cry of the palm-squirrel is a shrill chirp, resembling the note of a bird. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 15 June 5/3 The workers [sc. white ants] are preyed upon by true ants and many other insects;..by rats, mice, and palm-squirrels. 1955 I. T. Sanderson Living Mammals of World 115/2 Palm-Squirrels... It is virtually impossible for the non⁓specialist to identify or even define this tribe.

1926 M. Leinster Dew on Leaf v. 55 A large writing-desk and shelf of books,..and a blackwood *palm-stand, were some of the surrounding objects.

1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxiii, The nymph had..darted between the *palm-stems to her canoe.

1866 Treas. Bot. 158/1 Palm toddy is intoxicating, and when distilled yields strong arrack..but its most important product is jaggery, or *palm-sugar. 1937 M. Covarrubias Island of Bali (1972) vi. 125 The child is weaned after three birthdays.., when the mother puts a mixture of lime and palm-sugar to her nipples. 1971 Nat. Geographic Mar. 344 (caption) Train of oxcarts, laden with baskets of palm sugar, rumbles toward a landing on the Irrawaddy River.

1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 175 It had a certain amount of *palm-thatch roof.

1871 C. Kingsley At Last x, The two first settlers regretted the days when the house was a mere *palm-thatched hut.

1857 Livingstone Trav. xxi. 411 The men..spend most of their time in drinking the *palm-toddy. This toddy is the juice of the palm-oil tree..a sweet clear liquid, not at all intoxicating while fresh, but, when allowed to stand till the afternoon, causes inebriation. 1950 ‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai vii. 48 Fishing, canoe⁓building..and palm toddy. 1974 Nat. Geographic Dec. 754 A feast of marinated raw fish..was washed down with palm toddy.

c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 89 [Hi] beren on here honde blostme, sum *palm twig, and sum boh of oliue.

1896 List Anim. Zool. Soc. (ed. 9) 646 Lachesis bilineatus (Wied). Two⁓lined *Palm-Viper. Hab. South America.

1889 Jefferies Field & Hedgerow 202 The *palm-willow bears its yellow pollen.

1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 698 Their *Palme⁓wines, which they draw out of the toppe of a kinde of Palme. 1836 Macgillivray tr. Humboldt's Trav. xxii. 311 They found several inhabitants collecting palm-wine. 1957 M. Banton W. Afr. City iii. 52 War⁓time prosperity multiplied the demand for palm-wine in Mende country. 1964 J. P. Clark Three Plays 5 A big gourd of palm wine and three heads of kola-nut split before the dead of the land. 1969 J. M. Gullick Malaysia i. 31 There may be a shop for the restricted sale of ‘toddy’ (palm wine). 1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 8 July 32/4 But Obadeya told the tribunal that he was in a palm-wine bar with Chidi that night.

1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 136 *Palm-withys, or other trees whereon they [bees] gather.

1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 179 Underneath the *palm-wood's shelt'ring height. 1865 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire (1872) 207 This beautiful door was of palm-wood.

1706 Phillips, *Palm-Worm, an American Insect half a Foot long..remarkable for its infinite Number of Feet, and two Claws at Head and Tail, with which it wounds and poisons Men.

Add: [2.] b. An emblematic representation of this; spec. a military decoration in the form of a palm frond, such as that awarded in addition to the French Croix de Guerre.

1918 Country Life Nov. 30 War Cross (Croix de Guerre), instituted 1915; awarded to any one, military or civil, who has been cited in the Order of the Day-citation in Army orders brings the cross with palm... A palm of silver represents five bronze palms. 1935 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra i. 10 Lute had the French Croix de Guerre with palm for something he said he did when he was drunk. 1977 C. Hillier tr. Simenon's Maigret & Hotel Majestic vi. 81 A croix de guerre with three palms and the military medal. 1986 J. B. Hilton Moondrop to Murder vii. 64 [She] holds the Croix de Guerre with stars and palm.

▪ II. palm, n.²
    (pɑːm)
    Forms: α. 4–6 paume, pawme, pame (also 8–9 dial.), 5 paame. β. 5–6 paulme, 5–7 palme, 7– palm.
    [ME. paume, a. F. paume:—L. palma palm of the hand; subseq. assimilated, through paulme (also in OF.), to the L. The latter was cognate with Gr. παλάµη, Skr. pāṇi (from *palni), OE. folm, OHG. folma str. fem., palm of the hand.]
    I. 1. a. The part of the hand between the wrist and the fingers, esp. its inner surface on which the fingers close, and which is nearly flat when extended. (In early use sometimes = hand.)

α 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1533 Þer apered a paume, with poyntel in fyngres þat watz grysly and gret, and grymly he wrytes. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 175 Þe paume hath powere to put oute alle þe ioyntes. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxvi. 67 Other ȝouen strokis with the pawm of hondis in to his face. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 311 A childe drynke of þe pame of his hond. c 1475 Partenay 4306 Plain pawme of hande the swerde made entre.

β c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 147 Þe visage and þe palmez of þe hend. 1484 Caxton Curiall 4 She lawgheth..and smyteth her paulmes to-gydre. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings ix. 35 They founde nothinge of her, but the szkull and the fete, and the palmes of her handes. 1616 Chapman Homer's Hymn to Apollo 305 But here the fair-hair'd Graces,..Danc'd, and each other's palm to palm did cling. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol iii. 183 She of the Gypsy Train..artful to view The spreading Palm, and with vile Cant deceive The Love-sick Maid. 1813 Scott Rokeby vi. xii, He pressed his forehead with his palm. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 261 Part with a slender palm taborines beat merrily jangling.

fig. 1825 Longfellow Spir. Poetry 5 The leaves above their sunny palms outspread.

b. In various figurative phrases, esp. referring to the receiving of money as a reward or bribe.

1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 10 Let me tell you Cassius, you your selfe Are much condemn'd to haue an itching Palme. 1807 E. S. Barrett Rising Sun III. iv. 42 You would imply that if we were greased in the palm, we should, like them, be ready to turn a courtier. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) II. 347 He should believe that their palms had been oiled. 1899 Baring-Gould Bk. of West I. xi. 178 Large landed proprietors managed to get slices by a little greasing of palms.

c. The part of a glove that covers the palm.
Cf. quot. 1852 s.v. palmed a. 3.

1891 Conan Doyle Adv. Sherlock Holmes, Speckled Band, I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove.

2. In Zool. and Comp. Anat. (and occasionally in wider use) extended to a. The corresponding part of the fore-foot of a quadruped. † b. The claw of a bird, etc. Obs. c. The sole of the foot. rare. d. Entom. The first joint of the fore-leg of an insect when specially developed. e. A prehensile structure on the tails of certain monkeys.

? a 1400 Morte Arth. 776 A blake bustous bere..With yche a pawe as a poste, and paumes fulle huge. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 17480 Myn handys off merveyllous fasoun, Lyk the pawmys off a gryffoun. 1460 Stacyons Rome 252 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 122 In heuen to dwelle for euur more, To þe palme wylle we goo. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 123 Our feet now, every palm, Are sandalled with calm. ― Adonais xxiv, The invisible Palms of her [Urania's] tender feet. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 370 Palma (the Palm). The first joint of the Manus, when longer and broader than the subsequent ones, or otherwise remarkable; answering to the Planta in the legs. 1843 Browning Return of Druses iii, A fire curls within us From the foot's palm and fills up to the brain. 1861 Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 150/1 They form a hollow in the palm of the foot, or the waist of the foot as some call it. 1863 Bates Nat. Amazon ii. (1864) 40 The South-American monkeys..which have a fifth hand for climbing in their prehensile tails, adapted for this function by their strong muscular development, and the naked palms under their tips.

3. The flat expanded part of the horn in some deer, from which finger-like points project.

13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1155 Þe breme bukkez also, with hor brode paumez. 1590 Sir T. Cockaine Treat. Hunt. D j, Diuers Buckes haue sundrie slots in their palmes. c 1611 Chapman Iliad iv. 124 The forehead of the goat Held out a wondrous goodly palm that sixteen branches brought. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Navy Landships, Horsemanship Wks. i. 93/1 A Buckes hornes are composed of Burre, Beame, Branch, Aduancer, Palme, and Spelter. 1770 G. White Selborne xxviii. To T. Pennant 80 The horn of a male-moose, which had..a broad palm with some snags on the edge. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. 181 In the fourth year the horn terminates in an expansion termed the ‘palm’.

4. A flat widened part at the end of an arm or arm-like projection. a. gen.

1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 304 b, & than after they..drewe the other arme to the palme of the crosse, & also smote in it another nayle. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm I. 414 The arm c is furnished..with an oblique palm or ear upon which the fore-edge of the mould-board rests, and to which it is bolted. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. iv. 66 The palm here spoken of was shaped like the palm of a vice, and was run in underneath the iron flat of the lower saloon, and riveted to it.

b. spec. The blade of an oar.

1513 Douglas æneis x. iv. 122 Quhil that the famy stour of stremis le Vp weltis from the braid palmis of tre. 1867 Contemp. Rev. VI. 253 At length we marked our steersman smile, And broadened the oar-palm to rest awhile.

† c. Applied to the hand of a clock. Obs. rare.

1629 Z. Boyd Last Battell 519 The Palme turneth about, and with its finger pointeth at the houre.

d. The broad triangular part of an anchor, the inner surface of the fluke.

1706 Phillips, Palm of an Anchor, the Flook or broad part which fastens into the Ground. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1264 They were..obliged to..drag the anchor after them, till they had room to heave it up, when they perceived that one of its palms was broken. 1867 J. Macgregor Voy. Alone (1868) 27 It needs a good scrubbing to get rid of it from each palm of the anchor.

5. An instrument used by sailmakers instead of a thimble: see quot. 1769–76.

1769–76 Falconer Dict. Mar., Palm, paumet,..is formed of a piece of leather or canvas, on the middle of which is fixed a round plate of iron, of an inch in diameter, whose surface is pierced with a number of small holes, to catch the head of the sail-needle. The leather is formed so as to encircle the hand, and button on the back thereof, while the iron remains in the palm. 1897 R. Kipling Capt. Cour. 108 Harvey spent his leisure hours..learning to use a needle and palm.

II. † 6. a. A game in which a ball was struck with the hand; = palm-play (see 9), F. la paume, jeu de la paume. b. The ball used in this game.

1440 J. Shirley Dethe K. James (1837) 56 Whane he playd there at the pawme, the ballis oft ranne yn at that fowle hole. 1467 Eng. Gilds 372 Item, that no man pley at tenys or pame w{supt}yn the yeld halle. 1482 in Paston Lett. III. 303 At the Paame ther, ther plesure for to take. 1530 Palsgr. 252/2 Paume to play at tennys with, paulme.

7. A measure of length, equivalent either to the breadth of the palm of the hand (= hand n. 20, handbreadth), i.e. about three to four inches, or to the whole length of the hand from the wrist to the finger-tips, i.e. about seven to nine inches.

1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 221 He had the face a cubyte brode, the nose a palme longe. c 1500 Melusine xlix. 325 Geffray..made his swerd to entre in his flesshe wel a palme deep. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 172 The tail is not above two hands or palms long. 1625 Bacon Ess., Empire (Arb.) 303 During that Triumuirate of Kings,..there was such a watch kept, that none of the Three, could win a Palme of Ground, but the other two, would straightwaies ballance it. 1771 Ann. Reg. 78 The corpse..was..placed on a..scaffold, fifty-four palms high. 1801 A. Ranken Hist. France I. i. v. 451 There was a circular window of five palms or three feet nine inches diameter. 1857 C. Gribble in Merc. Marine Mag. (1858) V. 4 The Brazilian palm being reckoned at 8³/₄ inches, not 9 as generally supposed.

III. [f. palm v.]
8. The act of palming a card, etc.: see palm v. 2.

1664 J. Wilson Cheats iv. i, Did not I..teach you your top, your palm, and your slur?

IV. 9. attrib. and Comb., as palm-breadth, palm-marking, palm-reader; palm-reading, palm-tickling adjs.; palm-ball U.S. Baseball, a pitch of the ball gripped with the thumb and palm; † palm-barley (see quot.); palm-grease (humorous), money given as a douceur or bribe (cf. 1 b); so palm-greasing, petty bribery, ‘tipping’; † palm-pear (see quot.); palm-play [Fr. jeu de la paume], an old game resembling tennis, in which the ball was struck with the palm of the hand instead of a racket; so palm-playing; palm-print, the impression left by the palm of the hand; palm-veined a. Bot., palmately veined; palm-wise adv., with open palm; palm-worker, a person who works with a palm (sense 5).

1948 Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch 15 Mar. 17/4 The lanky Cincinnati Reds' sidewheeler has added a new pitch to his repertoire—a *palm ball. 1950 Sun (Baltimore) 28 Aug. 16/2 He carries his own little notebook and can tell you many of the pitches he has made, when he threw the slider, the palm ball and even the gopher ball. 1973 Times 15 Aug. 7/3 There are numerous ways of hurling a ball legally to increase its effectiveness, such as the..screw-ball, the fork-ball and the palm-ball. 1976 Webster's Sports Dict. 300/2 Palm ball,..an off-speed pitch that is gripped between the thumb and the palm instead of with the ends of the fingers and that is thrown so that the fingers do not impart rotation to the ball.

1706 Phillips, Palmare Hordeum (in old Records), *Palm-Barley or Sprat-Barley;..a sort of Grain that is fuller and broader than common Barley [cf. 1611 Cotgr., Orge paumé, Beere Barlie, big Barlie, Barlie with the square eare].

1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 45/1 We must then from palme to *Palmebreadthe, a little more than half throughe cutt the same.

1897 ‘Ouida’ Massarenes iii, She'll want a lot of *palmgrease.

1886 Baring-Gould Court Royal I. iv. 56 The police..were extortionate in their demand for *palm-greasing.

1883 Longm. Mag. Sept. 497 Belief in fortunate *palm-markings.

1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. (1746) 310 Wardens or *Palm-Pears, so called, because one of them will fill the Palm of a Hand.

a 1547 Earl of Surrey in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 13 The *palme play, where, dispoyled for the game, With dazed eies oft we..Haue mist the ball, and got sight of our dame. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. iii. 85 The game of hand-ball is called by the French, palm-play.

1870 Rossetti Dante at Verona xxviii, He comes upon The women at their *palm-playing.

1929 A. C. & C. Edington Studio Murder Myst. xv. 202 In wearing gloves the criminal nearly always leaves a very legible *palm print. 1946 Nature 12 Oct. 526/1 A drawing of a hand emphasizing the features of finger- and palm-print patterns is reproduced from this article. 1954 F. Cherrill Cherrill of Yard vii. 69 ‘Are palm-prints as infallible as finger-prints?’ he asked. 1955 Times 10 May 4/2 It had now been established that no two human beings had the same palm prints. 1967 N. Lucas C.I.D. v. 61 In 1930..for the first time, palm-print evidence was accepted in a criminal court. 1977 D. Harsent Dreams of Dead 5 Her palm-print shrinks on the mirror as she turns away.

1867 Craig Palmistry 304 In Palmistry and in chiromancy, many collateral circumstances often go to read off an individual, as well as the mere *palm-reading.

1920 R. Macaulay Potterism iii. ii. 131 She is the most wonderful *palm reader and crystal gazer I have come across.

1809 Malkin Gil Blas viii. vii. (Rtldg.) ¶3 *Palm-tickling petitioners for the loaves and fishes.

1866 Treas. Bot. 838/2 *Palm-veined, having the principal veins radiating from a common point.

a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 514 The same hand..being first stretched forth *palm-wise, is after gathered in fist-wise.

1889 Critic 27 July 65/1 *Palm workers..are obliged to do their work standing up; sitting down they would not have enough force to pass the long needles through the stiff canvas.

Add: [IV.] [9.] palm-top a. [after desk-top n., lap-top s.v. lap n.¹ 7], (esp. of a computer) small enough to be held and used in the palm of the hand; freq. ellipt. as n.

1987 Govt. Computer News 5 June 55/3 Perhaps artificial intelligence will soon allow us to communicate from a 10 MIPS cellular *palmtop to someone's telephone implant and vice versa. 1990 Daily Tel. 15 Jan. 23/3 The latest advertising-generated fad is the ‘palm-top computer’ which is being sold to busy executives as the ultimate replacement for a competent secretary. 1993 Computing 27 May 23/1 Whereas in the old days a portable was simply a PC you could carry (although not necessarily use on the move), now you can take your pick from portables, notebooks, sub-notebooks, palmtops and organisers. 1993 Esquire Dec. 48 In this novel.., William Gibson imagines the palmtop TV/telephone of the future: a smooth, oblong shape, like a piece of polished obsidian.

▪ III. palm, v.
    (pɑːm)
    Also 7 paume, pawme, paulm, 7–8 paum, 7–8 (9 dial.) pawm.
    [f. palm n.²: in most senses, orig. slang or low colloquial. Cf. It. palmare to grip with the palm of the hand, also, to stroke or smooth with the palm; F. paumer to stroke with the flat hand.]
    1. a. trans. To touch with the palm, or pass the palm across; to handle; to stroke with the hand; to take or grasp the hand of, shake hands with.

1685 Crowne Sir C. Nice iii. Dram. Wks. 1874 III. 294 Sur. Is there not salt enough in London for you? Sir Co. Ay, stuff pawm'd by butlers and waiters. c 1704 Prior Epigr., Frank carves very ill, yet will palm all the meats. 1784 New Spectator No. 12. 1 And what with palming one fellow, kissing another and coaxing with thousands, has driven me almost hornmad. 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 268 He became gleeful,..nervously palming his hip with his left hand, as if previous to plunging it into hot water for some prize. 1881 Confess. frivolous Girl 176. 1974 Guardian 23 Sept. 24/8 Farmer palmed over a header from the impressive Thompson. 1976 Wymondham & Attleborough Express 3 Dec. 27/2 From the kick off the ball was put to Chambers on the wing and his hard shot was palmed into the path of Bartrum who put Pollastra 1-0 up in 45 seconds.

b. intr.

1678 Dryden Kind Keeper iv. i, I think in my conscience, he is palming and topping in my belly. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., To Palm or Pawm, to climb, to ascend progressively by the use of the hands and feet, as a monkey ‘palming’ up a pole with its paws and legs.

2. a. trans. To conceal in the palm of the hand, as in cheating at cards or dice, or in juggling.

1673 [see palming vbl. n.¹ 2]. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester xv. 96 He palms them as much as he can, nimbly passing the last Card. 1706 Phillips, To palm, to juggle in one's Hand; to cog or cheat at Dice. a 1732 Gay Fables ii. xii. 104 Is't I who cog or palm the dice? 1882 Besant All Sorts III. 34 He began to ‘palm’ the egg in the most surprising manner. 1882 Sat. Rev. LIV. 629 You may show a dozen men how to ‘palm’ a card, yet not one of them will be able to do it.

b. ? To perform or play (a trick) by palming.

1717 Prior Alma ii. 242 But Space and Matter we should blame; They palm'd the Trick that lost the Game.

† 3. intr. To play a trick, to cheat; to impose upon a person. Obs.

1686 F. Spence tr. Varillas' Ho. Medicis 414 The Germans paulm'd upon Francis the First. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 204 The Dog paum'd upon us so slily. 1724 J. Macky Journ. thro. Eng. I. iv. 68 At Play..the Ladies think it no Crime to pawm handsomely.

4. a. trans. To impose (a thing) fraudulently (on or upon a person); to pass off by trickery or fraud. spec. in U.S. Law = pass v. 64 c.

1679 Crowne Amb. Statesman iv. 59 Thinking you cou'd pawme such stuffe on me. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 117 ¶4 She..has made the Country ring with several imaginary Exploits which are palmed upon her. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) IV. 160 My lord duke has palmed his lacquey upon us, in lieu of my lawful husband. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Dist. Corresp., Have you not tried to palm off a yesterday's pun? a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. iv. 274 Pernicious notions palmed on the people. 1880 Federal Reporter (U.S.) I. 36 Nor is it necessary, in order to give a right to an injunction, that a specific trade-mark should be infringed, but it is sufficient that the court is satisfied that there was an intent on the part of the respondent to palm off his goods as the goods of the complainant. 1904 Judicial & Statutory Definitions VI. 5159/2 ‘To palm off’ means to impose by fraud; to put off by inferior means. The language also imports that plaintiff must have been deceived and cheated by the representations, which he could not have been had he relied upon them. 1939 Northeastern Reporter XXI. 837/2 Defendants so conducted their business as to intentionally palm off on the public goods of the defendants as the goods of the plaintiff. 1956, etc. [see palming vbl. n.¹ 3]. 1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 17 Apr. 4/5 A claim that Borden attempted to ‘palm off’ its dried soup package as that of Lipton's.

b. with inverted construction: to put (a person) off with (something).

1830 tr. Aristophanes, Acharnians 21 The Chorus..should stand by like fools, that I may palm them off with diminutive words. 1894 Idler Sept. 168 The public..cannot always get the books it wants..and is frequently palmed off with other books which it does not in the least care about. 1934 Punch 30 May 592/3, I lost seven holes running this morning absolutely and entirely because I had been palmed off with a little swine who sniffed whenever I was about to strike my ball. 1960 B. Kops Dream of Peter Mann iii. 66 We couldn't have our Superstore just yet and we were palmed off with promises.

5. To ‘grease the palm’ of, bribe, ‘tip’.

1747 Advent. Kidn. Orphan 40 (F. Hall). 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., It is then said that the party who receives it [the bribe] is palmed, or that Mr. Palmer is concerned. 1812 Spirit Pub. Jrnls. XVI. 345 A candidate in full career..Palming each greasy raggamuffin. 1890 Pall Mall G. 6 Feb. 3/3 The heads of this particular firm..admit that they ‘palmed’ right and left. 1899 C. G. Harper Exeter Road 135 Votes which would in other days have been acquired by palming the men and kissing all the babies.

Add: [2.] c. To steal or filch (something small) by taking and concealing in the palm of the hand.

1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 42 Palm, to steal small articles (gum, candy) by concealing them in the palm of the hand. 1946 S. T. Felstead Stars who made Halls xvi. 167 What you really heard, of course, was his heart beating; the watch he had palmed. 1985 G. Kendall White Wing (1986) vii. 83 Joao turned away from the board, and palmed a hypo of nepenthine before heading for a tube to the flight deck.