Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various spiny climbing palms of the subfamily Calamoideae and especially the genus Calamus of tropical Africa and Asia, having long, tough, flexible stems.
- noun The stems of any of these palms, used to make furniture and other wickerwork.
- noun Wickerwork made of the stems of these palms.
- noun A switch or cane made from these palms.
from The Century Dictionary.
- See
ratan . - noun The continuous beat or reverberation of a drum; rataplan; rat-a-tat.
- noun See
ratten .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) One of the long slender flexible stems of several species of palms of the genus Calamus, mostly East Indian, though some are African and Australian. They are exceedingly tough, and are used for walking sticks, wickerwork, chairs and seats of chairs, cords and cordage, and many other purposes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of several species of climbing
palm of the genus Calamus. - noun uncountable The plant used as a material.
- noun A
cane made from this material.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the stem of various climbing palms of the genus Calamus and related genera used to make wickerwork and furniture and canes
- noun climbing palm of Sri Lanka and southern India remarkable for the great length of the stems which are used for malacca canes
- noun a switch made from the stems of the rattan palms
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If instead of rattan is was made of cardboard my cat would go nuts for it.
S Table 2010
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This is supposed to yield the walking-canes known as rattan, which is doubted.
Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture William Saunders 1861
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Shane should also be picking me up some better sword rattan at Gulf Wars.
roland Diary Entry roland 2005
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The fastenings of the entire work were of rattan, which is found in plenty.
The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido For the Suppression of Piracy Henry Keppel
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Brown said: "I believe that snake is in the boat yet," and at the same time threw at Jones a piece of rattan, which is good to scare one with -- it's a veritable snake.
The Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond, Early recollections Vivid portrayal of Amusing Scenes Robert Arnold
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Besides the small knife for splitting rattan, which is the special implement of the Dayak woman, the fair sex of the Penyahbongs has a parang, a spear, an axe, a bone implement used in working rattan mats, and
Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917 Carl Lumholtz 1886
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In regard to the rest, each man was secured to his place at the oar by means of a strip of cane, called rattan, fastened round his neck, and a man was appointed to lash them when they showed symptoms of flagging.
Under the Waves Diving in Deep Waters Francis B. Pearson 1859
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I have seen in a work on Ceylon the miserable little acid berry of the rattan, which is no larger than a currant, described as a fruit; hawthorn berries might, with equal justice, be classed among the fruits of Great Britain.
Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon Samuel White Baker 1857
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[FN#379] In text "'Úd Khayzarán" - wood of the rattan, which is orig.
Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855
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Meantime, rising property prices, partly driven by investors banking on the Unesco listing, have pushed out many longtime residents, threatening the multicultural community that gives the town its unique mix of festivals, food and traditional trades, such as rattan weaving.
A Tale of Two Cities 2010
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