punkah
/ˈpʌŋkə
/ /ˈpʌŋkɑː/noun
1chiefly historical (In India) a large cloth fan on a frame suspended from the ceiling, moved backwards and forwards by pulling on a cord: [as modifier]: the punkah wallah fell asleep over his task...
- I could tell it was her because of the punkah wallah holding a large sign bearing the words ‘Tessa Jowell IS HERE’.
- I so want to be oiled by a nice clean punkah wallah.
- Back in town, among the most distinctive digs are the Hotel Sofitel Central, a palatial, seafront pavilion of louvres, punkah fans and armies of gardeners.
1.1Indian An electric fan.You can imagine yourself in a stifling ballroom in Calcutta, full of feverish gaiety, while punkahs languidly stir the air....
- Aware of the famous punkahs at Brisbane's Tattersalls Club, Addison's punkahs - his first - also form part of a strategy of passive environmental control.
- An ideally positioned bar and lounge under an open-thatch roof is cooled by the silent swish of punkahs, and decorated in harmonious green, cream and ebony.
Origin
Via Hindi from Sanskrit pakṣaka, from pakṣa 'wing'.