paddy

noun (1)

pad·dy | \ ˈpa-dē

variants: or less commonly padi

plural paddies also padis

Definition of paddy

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : rice especially : threshed unmilled rice

2 : wet land in which rice is grown

Paddy

noun (2)

Pad·dy | \ ˈpa-dē

plural Paddies

Definition of Paddy (Entry 2 of 2)

slang, often disparaging + offensive

: irishman

Examples of paddy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Khin Aye, a farmer in the Ayeyarwady region, has 14 acres of paddy fields, which can be seen through the back window of his farmhouse. — The Economist, "Myanmar’s countryside is emptying and its cities bursting," 11 July 2019 Human sources—most prominently rotting landfills, coal mines, rice paddies, cattle, and leaks from natural gas pipelines—have raised atmospheric concentrations by around 250 percent. — Fred Pearce, WIRED, "Trees Emit a Surprisingly Large Amount of Methane," 9 July 2019 Chinese mountainsides are sculpted into terraced rice paddy pools that transform once rugged terrain into three-dimensional topographic maps. — Steven Litt, cleveland.com, "Edward Burtynsky photos at Cleveland Museum of Art document mankind’s troubled relationship with water," 23 June 2019 Adventurers head inland for indigenous villages with thatched houses and traditional, spider web–shaped rice paddies. — Amy Alipio, National Geographic, "How to go beyond the dragons in Komodo National Park," 16 May 2019 At midnight, gunshots and screams shattered the silence of paddy fields. — Gaia Vince, Quartz, "How to survive in the world’s largest refugee camp," 8 June 2019 What & WhereThe Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s rice basket—a watery landscape of floating markets, stilt houses, Khmer-style pagodas, and rippling green paddies. — Peter Jon Lindberg, Condé Nast Traveler, "How to Take Your Vietnam Trip to the Next Level," 20 Nov. 2018 In a muddy clearing about half the size of a football field, several thousand rice paddy planters and taxi drivers join an elbow-to-elbow scrum, waiting in darkness in Jerlun, a rural village in northwest Malaysia. — Laignee Barron / Kedah, Time, "Mahathir Mohamad’s Last Stand: Malaysia's Aging Strongman Seeks to Unseat His Protégé," 8 May 2018 Our guide, Lach Kim Chhen, takes dirt roads through caught-in-time villages, past rice paddies and muddy fields thick with cotton-candy-pink lotus flowers, instead of driving the faster, paved road. — Rebecca Misner, Condé Nast Traveler, "Going Deeper in Cambodia," 19 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'paddy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.