palm

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The inner surface of the hand that extends from the wrist to the base of the fingers.
• noun The similar part of the forefoot of a quadruped.
• noun A unit of length equal to either the width or the length of the hand.
• noun The part of a glove or mitten that covers the palm of the hand.
• noun Nautical A metal shield worn by sailmakers over the palm of the hand and used to force a needle through heavy canvas.
• noun Nautical The blade of an oar or paddle.
• noun The flattened part of the antlers of certain animals, such as the moose.
• transitive verb To hold in the palm of the hand.
• transitive verb To touch or stroke with the palm of the hand.
• transitive verb To conceal in the palm of the hand, as in cheating at dice or cards or in a sleight-of-hand trick.
• transitive verb To pick up furtively.
• transitive verb Basketball To commit a violation by letting (the ball) rest momentarily in the palm of the hand while dribbling.
• idiom (an itchy palm) A strong desire for money, especially bribes.
• noun Any of numerous chiefly tropical evergreen trees, shrubs, or woody vines of the family Arecaceae (or Palmae), characteristically having an unbranched trunk with a crown of large pinnate or palmate leaves having conspicuous parallel venation.
• noun A leaf of a palm tree, regarded as an emblem of victory, success, or joy.
• noun A small metallic representation of a palm leaf added to a military decoration that has been awarded more than one time.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To handle; manipulate.
• To conceal in the palm of the hand, in the manner of jugglers or cheaters.
• To impose by fraud: generally followed by upon before the person and off before the thing: as, to palm off trash upon the public.
• noun The flat of the hand; that part of the hand which extends from the wrist to the bases of the thumb and fingers on the side opposite the knuckles; more generally and technically, the palmar surface of the manus of any animal, as the sole of the fore foot of a clawed quadruped, as the cat or mouse, corresponding to the planta of the pes or foot.
• noun The hand; a hand.
• noun A lineal measure equal either to the breadth of the hand or to its length from the wrist to the tips of the fingers; a measure of length equal to 3 and in some instances 4 inches; among the Romans, a lineal measure equal to about 8½ inches, corresponding to the length of the hand.
• noun A part that covers the inner portion of the hand: as, the palm of a glove; specifically, an instrument used by sailmakers and seamen in sewing canvas, instead of a thimble, consisting of a piece of leather that goes round the hand, with a piece of iron sewed on it so as to rest in the palm.
• noun The broad (usually triangular) part of an anchor at the end of the arms.
• noun The flat or palmate part of a deer's horns when full-grown.
• noun An old game, a kind of hand-tennis, more fully called palm-play.
• noun A ball.
• noun A tree or shrub of the order Palmæ.
• noun A branch, properly a leaf, of the palm-tree, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or triumph; hence, superiority; victory; triumph; honor; prize.
• noun One of several other plants, popularly so called as resembling in some way the palm, or, especially, as substituted for it in church usage.
• noun See Macrozamia.
• noun A flat end formed on a tie-rod or strut, through which the rivets or bolts are passed to secure the piece to the rest of the structure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Anat.) The inner and somewhat concave part of the hand between the bases of the fingers and the wrist.
• noun 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.
• noun (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.
• noun (Zoöl.) 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.
• noun (Naut.) The flat inner face of an anchor fluke.
• noun [Slang] To bribe or tip.
• noun (Bot.) Any endogenous tree of the order Palmæ or Palmaceæ; a palm tree.
• noun A branch or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing.
• noun Any symbol or token of superiority, success, or triumph; also, victory; triumph; supremacy.
• noun (Bot.) a labiate herb from Asia (Molucella lævis), having a curious cup-shaped calyx.
• noun the terminal bud of a cabbage palm, used as food.
• noun (Zoöl.) the common paradoxure.
• noun (Zoöl.) the purse crab.
• noun a vegetable oil, obtained from the fruit of several species of palms, as the African oil palm (Elæis Guineensis), and used in the manufacture of soap and candles. See Elæis.
• noun (Zoöl.) 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.