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Palm   /pɑm/  /pɑlm/   Listen
noun
palm  n.  
1.
(Anat.) The inner and somewhat concave part of the hand between the bases of the fingers and the wrist. "Clench'd her fingers till they bit the palm."
2.
A lineal measure equal either to the breadth of the hand or to its length from the wrist to the ends of the fingers; a hand; used in measuring a horse's height. Note: In Greece, the palm was reckoned at three inches. The Romans adopted two measures of this name, the lesser palm of 2.91 inches, and the greater palm of 8.73 inches. At the present day, this measure varies in the most arbitrary manner, being different in each country, and occasionally varying in the same.
3.
(Sailmaking) A metallic disk, attached to a strap, and worn on the palm of the hand, used to push the needle through the canvas, in sewing sails, etc.
4.
(Zool.) The broad flattened part of an antler, as of a full-grown fallow deer; so called as resembling the palm of the hand with its protruding fingers.
5.
(Naut.) The flat inner face of an anchor fluke.
to grease the palm of, v. t. To bribe or tip. (Slang)


Palm  n.  
1.
(Bot.) Any endogenous tree of the order Palmae or Palmaceae; a palm tree. Note: Palms are perennial woody plants, often of majestic size. The trunk is usually erect and rarely branched, and has a roughened exterior composed of the persistent bases of the leaf stalks. The leaves are borne in a terminal crown, and are supported on stout, sheathing, often prickly, petioles. They are usually of great size, and are either pinnately or palmately many-cleft. There are about one thousand species known, nearly all of them growing in tropical or semitropical regions. The wood, petioles, leaves, sap, and fruit of many species are invaluable in the arts and in domestic economy. Among the best known are the date palm, the cocoa palm, the fan palm, the oil palm, the wax palm, the palmyra, and the various kinds called cabbage palm and palmetto.
2.
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 palme in their hands."
3.
Hence: Any symbol or token of superiority, success, or triumph; also, victory; triumph; supremacy. "The palm of martyrdom." "So get the start of the majestic world And bear the palm alone."
Molucca palm (Bot.), a labiate herb from Asia (Molucella laevis), having a curious cup-shaped calyx.
Palm cabbage, the terminal bud of a cabbage palm, used as food.
Palm cat (Zool.), the common paradoxure.
Palm crab (Zool.), the purse crab.
Palm oil, a vegetable oil, obtained from the fruit of several species of palms, as the African oil palm (Elaeis Guineensis), and used in the manufacture of soap and candles. See Elaeis.
Palm swift (Zool.), a small swift (Cypselus Batassiensis) which frequents the palmyra and cocoanut palms in India. Its peculiar nest is attached to the leaf of the palmyra palm.
Palm toddy. Same as Palm wine.
Palm weevil (Zool.), any one of mumerous species of very large weevils of the genus Rhynchophorus. The larvae bore into palm trees, and are called palm borers, and grugru worms. They are considered excellent food.
Palm wine, the sap of several species of palms, especially, in India, of the wild date palm (Phoenix sylvestrix), the palmyra, and the Caryota urens. When fermented it yields by distillation arrack, and by evaporation jaggery. Called also palm toddy.
Palm worm, or Palmworm. (Zool.)
(a)
The larva of a palm weevil.
(b)
A centipede.


verb
Palm  v. t.  (past & past part. palmed; pres. part. palming)  
1.
To handle. (Obs.)
2.
To manipulate with, or conceal in, the palm of the hand; to juggle. "They palmed the trick that lost the game."
3.
Hence: To take (something small) stealthily, especially by concealing it in the palm of the hand; as, he palmed one of the coins and walked out with it.
4.
To impose by fraud, as by sleight of hand; to put by unfair means; usually with on or upon; as, to palm a stolen coin on an unsuspecting dealer. See also palm off. "For you may palm upon us new for old."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Palm" Quotes from Famous Books



... much more forcibly than an equally fancy bonnet of the model of last year; although when viewed in the perspective of a quarter of a century, it would, I apprehend, be a matter of the utmost difficulty to award the palm for intrinsic beauty to the one rather than to the other of these structures. So, again, it may be remarked that, considered simply in their physical juxtaposition with the human form, the high gloss of a gentleman's hat ...
— The Theory of the Leisure Class • Thorstein Veblen
... called John arose and placed himself in a neat fighting attitude.—Fetch on the fellah that makes them long words!—he said,—and planted a straight hit with the right fist in the concave palm of the left hand with a click like a cup and ball.—You small boy there, hurry up ...
— The Professor at the Breakfast Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.)
... (as one knows) a continual emblem of the marriage of Jesus Christ with the Church. It is an emblem from beginning to end. Especially does the ingenious Dom Calmet demonstrate that the palm-tree to which the well-beloved goes is the cross to which our Lord Jesus Christ was condemned. But it must be avowed that a pure and healthy moral philosophy is still preferable ...
— Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary • Voltaire
... round a snow-white ram, There wreathe his venerable horns with flowers; While peaceful as if still an unwean'd lamb, The patriarch of the flock all gently cowers His sober head, majestically tame, Or eats from out the palm, or playful lowers His brow, as if in act to butt, and then Yielding to their small hands, draws ...
— Don Juan • Lord Byron
... was there, and had the pleasure of receiving our first caller. She was a prim little old woman who looked pleased and expectant, who wore a neat cap and front, and whose eyes were as bright as black beads. She wore no bonnet, and had thrown a little three-cornered shawl, with palm-leaf figures, over her shoulders; and it was evident that she was a near neighbor. She was very short and straight and thin, and so quick that she darted like a pickerel when she moved about. It occurred to me at once that she was a very capable person, and ...
— Deephaven and Selected Stories & Sketches • Sarah Orne Jewett


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