Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - paddle

~1 n 1 a short pole that is wide and flat at one end or both ends, used for moving a small boat along  (- compare oar) 2 BrE the action of walking about in water which is not very deep  (have a paddle/go for a paddle)  (I'm just going for a quick paddle to cool my feet down.) 3 AmE a small round bat1 (2b) with a short handle, used for hitting the ball in table tennis1 4 one of the wide blades on the wheel of a paddle steamer 5 a tool like a flat spoon, used for mixing food  (a paddle for making the butter) 6 AmE a piece of wood with a handle, used for hitting a child to punish them  (- see also dog paddle) ~2 v paddled, paddling 1 to move a small light boat through water, using one or more paddles + along/upstream/towards  (We got out the canoe and paddled upstream. | paddle sth)  (They paddled the canoe across the lake.)  (- compare row3) 2 BrE to walk about in water that is not very deep  (The children paddled in the sea.) 3 to swim by moving your hands and feet up and down 4 AmE informal to hit a child with a piece of wood as a punishment 5 paddle your own canoe informal to depend on yourself and no one else