dandle

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 

View all »
Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To move (a small child) up and down on the knees or in the arms in a playful way: "Somebody who was dandled on Queen Victoria's knee must appear an old fogy” (Edward, Duke of Windsor).
  2. transitive verb To pamper or pet.
  3. noun Narragansett Bay See seesaw. See Regional Note at teeter-totter.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples

  • It's not long jumps through the black -- that is when he can relax and dandle babies. —  Citizen Of The Galaxy
  • Their guts will grease the points of our sabers, their heads dandle from our saddle-posts like green gourds! —  Conan The Warlord
  • "You know; an elderly woman's urgent desire for grandchildren to dandle upon her knee, spoil with sweetmeats, and generally corrupt. —  Drums of Autumn
  • It seems that after tonight, all I have to look forward to is a steady parade of licentious gentlemen seeking to dandle me on their knees.” —  One Night Of Scandal
  • That young man will dandle you on his knee —  A Crown of Swords
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

Dandle has been looked up 245 times, favorited 0 times, listed 18 times, and commented on once.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Origin unknown.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Cf. Scots dandill, go about idly; Scots and English dial. dander, daunder, dauner (see dander), wander about, talk incoherently, etc. Cf. German tändeln, toy, trifle, play; Middle Dutch dantinnen, trifle (whence prob. F. dandiner, swing, waddle). These appear to be freq. verbs, from a base seen in Middle Dutch danten, do foolish things, trifle, Middle High German tant, German tand (later Danish tant), a trifle, toy, empty prattle. Cf. Old Italian dondolare, dondolare, dandle, play, dandola, dondola, a doll, a kind of ball-play; modern dondolare, swing, toss, loiter, dondolo, a swing, jest, sport; prob. of Teutonic origin.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈdændl/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a year.

Recent Lookups

baloney · balderdash · dwelling · despotic · promontory

Recent Favorites

turncoat · metaplasm · emulous · abdicated · pique

Recent Pronunciations

milosrdenstvi · lichen-covered · futon · sagacity · monoragngocious