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A large fan consisting of a frame covered with canvas that is suspended from the ceiling
Answer for the clue "A large fan consisting of a frame covered with canvas that is suspended from the ceiling ", 6 letters:
punkah
Alternative clues for the word punkah
Word definitions for punkah in dictionaries
WordNet
Word definitions in WordNet
n. a large fan consisting of a frame covered with canvas that is suspended from the ceiling; used in India for circulating air in a room
Wikipedia
Word definitions in Wikipedia
A punkah ( Hindi : , ) is a type of fan used since the early 500 B.C.. The word pankha originated from'' pankh'', the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped. In its original sense in South Asia , punkah typically describes a handheld fan made ...
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Punka \Pun"ka\, n. [Hind. pankh[=a] fan.] A machine for fanning a room, usually a movable fanlike frame covered with canvas, and suspended from the ceiling. It is kept in motion by pulling a cord. [Hindostan] [Written also punkah .] --Malcom.
Wiktionary
Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. A type of large fan, common on the Indian subcontinent, especially made from a leaf or from cloth, typically hung from the ceiling, designed to cool a room, often operated manually by a servant.
Usage examples of punkah.
How many times, in the merciless grinding heat of an Indian summer, lying panting under a flapping punkah that merely disturbed but could not cool the molten air, had he not yearned in imagination for the ice and frost and snow of an English winter ?
Alex could see the crouching figure of a punkah-coolie seated cross-legged in the shadows, his body bowing to the rhythmic tug and release of the rope, and from inside the room came the familiar flap and fall of the punkah cloth, a clink of bottles and glasses and the murmured Hindustani of the native servant.
The punkah flapping gently to and fro above their heads had drifted to a stop as the weary punkah-coolie dozed at his post, and Alex wondered tiredly why the Commissioner had found himself unable to go home.
Outside some one was pulling the punkah rope, and the great leaves of linen, attached to heavy teak poles, swayed back and forth over his head, stirring slightly the dense, humid atmosphere.
Bishop was reclining on the long chair on his verandah, while overhead the heavy punkah fans swayed to and fro, stirring the moist, warm air.
A horn lantern was suspended from the ceiling, and the air was unstirred by punkah, the heavy, foul air reeking with the sickening, pungent fumes of opium.
They sat beneath the revolving punkah fans at the long walnut table which extended to seat thirty persons and they talked about death.
One policeman has brought us fresh cocoa-nut milk, another sits outside pulling a small punkah, and two more have mounted guard over us.
The congregation sat under one punkah and the Resident under another, both being worked by bigoted Mohammedans!
Both heating and cooling apparatus could be installed in the shape of a motor to replace the punkah man and the present buzz-wheel fan, and to give fresh air without the opening of windows which leads to half our housekeeping miseries.
I sat with many a fine cigar on the verandah of my bungalow in Madras, and though one of the boys was always there to fan the punkah, I would perspire on my forehead and it was just part of smoking a good cigar out in India.
Cain and Abel were pulling the cords of the punkah, the maharajah-style fan that hung over the dining-room table to shoo away flies and provide a cool breeze.
Helen wondered if it was the sudden heat and insisted that Rosita should rest in her bedroom, cooled continuously by the punkah and dampened blinds at the windows.
The punkah was stopped and the wet blinds removed and when the vomiting ceased, Helen made Rosita drink a glass of strong brandy.
Gould lay in buttonless pajamas on a tousled bed beneath a punkah that had ceased to swing, unshaven, staring at the two intruders with eyes whose pupils were reduced to pin-points, conveying only mirage to the poisoned brain behind.