dither

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“
He grinned Imagine anyone trying to get the Old Man into a dither--and getting away with it He laughed and looked at the wall for a few more seconds, then opened a book Wonder," he said to himself.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A state of indecisive agitation.
  2. intransitive verb To be nervously irresolute in acting or doing.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Disaster in the shape of a big beautiful cumulus cloud Ellis, the foreman of the movie crew, had called him from Pluvia, all a-dither. —  Analog, April 2002
  • But he didn't have time to dither, for all that time was geography here; he had to find The Little Prince. —  The Dastard
  • This one came from Petra Bothnerby, of Neighbors and Bothnerby Funeral Homes, Inc. Ms. Bothnerby was obviously in a terrible dither, her usually beguiling Scandinavian accent so muddy this afternoon as to render her words almost unintelligible. —  AHMM,September2008
  • Lady Rockridge's dragon eye having noted the two golden heads bent close together, she promptly ordered her husband to change places with Robert While the innocent Cecily was throwing Lord Robert into a dither, her aunt was experiencing her own brand of disquiet. —  Chase, Loretta - Knave's Wager
  • Jo-Ann Mort While Israeli and Palestinian politicians dither, businessmen on both sides have begun to create their own facts on the ground
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

emoi ·  titanicu92s ·  senescence ·  axeman ·  doggrel ·  all-clear ·  counsaile ·  liue ·  digital-only ·  hina ·  pre-arranged ·  allegretto

Used in the same contextWord Family

dither:   dithering ·  dithers
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration of didder, from Middle English didderen, to tremble.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. A variant of didder, q. v.
  2. from dither, v.
 

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/ˈdɪθər/
by American Heritage

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