What does palo in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word palo in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use palo in Spanish.

The word palo in Spanish means stick, mast, suit, club, halfway done, say bluntly, straight, under bare poles, dry, everyone is responsible for their own actions, be embarrassing, suck, chip off the old block, the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot, thrashing, honeycomb, a piece of s***, not lift a finger, not lift a finger, blush, pink blush. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word palo

stick

nombre masculino (pieza de madera cilíndrica)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
En las fiestas, los niños esperan ansiosos su turno para pegarle con un palo a la piñata hasta romperla.
The children at the party wait their turn to hit the piñata with a stick.

mast

nombre masculino (mástil)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El palo mayor es el más alto del barco.
The main mast is the tallest mast on the ship.

suit

nombre masculino (naipes: oros, copas, espadas, bastos) (Cards)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
En la cartomancia el palo de oros se refiere a cuestiones monetarias.
In a deck of Tarot cards, the suit that relates to money issues is called coins.

club

nombre masculino (instrumento para jugar golf) (Golf)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
En el golf, cada palo solía recibir un nombre distinto pero ahora se usan números para identificarlos.
In golf, each club used to have a unique name, but now numbers are used to identify the clubs.

halfway done

locución adverbial (inacabado)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")

say bluntly

locución adverbial (sin accesorios, directamente)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
¿Y me dices que mi madre ha muerto así, a palo seco?
You're telling me bluntly like this that my mother has died?

straight

locución adverbial (sin comer) (drink)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Se bebió tres chupitos de tequila a palo seco, sin comer nada.
He downed three straight tequila shots without eating anything.

under bare poles

locución adverbial (embarcación: velas recogidas)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Se ve que la embarcación está a palo seco, tiene todas las velas recogidas.
You can see that the boat is sailing under bare poles. The sails are all gathered up.

dry

locución adverbial (sin beber)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Se comió una caja de polvorones a palo seco. No sé cómo no se atragantó.
He ate a whole box of sugar cookies dry. I don't know why he didn't choke.

everyone is responsible for their own actions

expresión (coloquial (cada quien responda por sus actos)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

be embarrassing

locución verbal (ES, coloquial (avergonzar)

Da palo copiarse en un examen y que te descubran.
Copying in an exam and getting caught is embarrassing.

suck

locución verbal (ES, coloquial (dar flojera) (colloquial)

(intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.")
Da palo trabajar un domingo.
Working on Sunday sucks.

chip off the old block

expresión (coloquial (el hijo es como sus padres) (figurative)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Al igual que su padre, Camilo odia la playa: de tal palo, tal astilla.
Just like his father, Camilo hates the beach. He's a chip off the old block.

the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot

expresión (el experto falla)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Se supone que Tomás es un excelente mecánico, pero mira la chatarra que conduce: en casa de herrero cuchillo de palo.
Thomas is supposed to be an excellent mechanic, but look at the heap of junk he drives around in: the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot.

thrashing

nombre masculino (castigo físico) (corporal punishment)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
A ti lo que te hace falta es un poco de jarabe de palo.
What you need is a thrashing.

honeycomb

(tipo de miel)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

a piece of s***

expresión (vulgar (una porquería) (vulgar)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Este trabajo es una mierda pinchada en un palo.
This job is shit on a stick.

not lift a finger

expresión (coloquial (no trabajar en absoluto)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Laura no dio ni palo durante un año y ahora le cuesta conseguir trabajo.
Laura hasn't lifted a finger for a year and now she's struggling to find a job.

not lift a finger

expresión (coloquial (no trabajar en absoluto)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Esa joven no da un palo al agua porque sus padres hacen todo por ella.
That young girl doesn't lift a finger because her parents do everything for her.

blush, pink blush

locución nominal masculina (tono de rosado)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Mis hijas quieren pintar las paredes de su habitación de rosa palo.

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Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.