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PAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 443 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PAD . (1) Probably from the same See also:

root as " pod," the husk or See also:seed-covering in certain See also:plants,.a See also:term used in various connexions, the sense being derived from that of a soft See also:cushion, or cushion-like See also:combination used either for protective purposes or as stuffing or stiffening. In See also:zoology, it is particularly used of the fleshy elastic protuberances on the See also:sole of the See also:foot of many animals such as the See also:cat and See also:dog, the See also:camel, &c.; and of the similar cushion beneath the toes of a See also:bird's foot or of the tarsal cushion of an See also:insect. In sporting phraseology the whole paw of a See also:fox or other beast of See also:chase is called the " pad." A See also:special technical use, somewhat difficult to connect with the above meanings, is for the socket 'of a See also:brace or for the handle of such tools as a See also:key-hole saw. (2) The canting word " pad," now surviving in such words as " footpad," a See also:highway robber, or " pad See also:horse," a roadster See also:riding-horse with an easy See also:action, is the same as " path," adapted directly from the See also:Low Ger. See also:form pad, a track or road. (3) There is an old See also:English See also:dialect word for a See also:frog (Scottish and See also:North) or a See also:toad, more See also:familiar in the diminutive " paddock " (cf. See also:Hamlet, iii. 4, 189; See also:Macbeth, i. 1, 9). This is found in many See also:Teutonic See also:languages, cf. See also:Dan. padde, Du. pad, &c. The diminutive is to be distinguished from " paddock," a small enclosed See also:plot of pasture See also:land, an altered form of " parrock," O.

Eng. pearroc.

End of Article: PAD

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