Did you possibly mean dangle?
Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A hardware device that serves as copy protection for certain software by rendering the software inoperable when the device is not plugged into a printer port.
Wiktionary
- n. computer hardware Any small device which plugs into an electronic device, typically a computer, and alters its functionality. Common examples include wireless modems, software copy protect devices, and adapters. Some USB keyboards and mice include USB to PS/2 adapter dongles, enabling their use on machines with PS/2 ports.
- n. computer hardware A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (computer science) an electronic device that must be attached to a computer in order for it to use protected software
Etymologies
- Apparently from dangle. (Wiktionary)
- Probably arbitrary coinage. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“As these statements suggest, a dongle is just an adapter you plug into the USB port on a TV, Blu-ray player, or home-theater system that allows it to connect wirelessly to your home network.”
“The iPod dongle is attached to a special serial board that can translate the signal from the dongle.”
Turn A Nike+ Sensor Into A Keyless Car Entry System | Lifehacker Australia
“Curious about this rather odd term, I checked out Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, which tracks the first use of the word dongle to 1981, defining it as "a small device that plugs into a computer and serves as an adapter or as a security measure to enable the use of certain software.”
“| Reply you got it wrong … the USB dongle is for people that dont have wireless routers already, and can just plug that dongle into their PC, which will shoot the wireless to the console wirelessly.”
EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - A nice breakdown of all Wii know
“A dongle is a piece of hardware that plugs into a computer and verifies that you did in fact purchase this five thousand dollar software package.”
“(As an alternative, you can connect a non-carrier netbook to 3G by using a so-called dongle that plugs into, and dangles from, a USB port.)”
“As an alternative, you can connect a non-carrier netbook to 3G by using a so-called dongle that plugs into, and dangles from, a USB port.”
“The dongle is a HUAWEI Technology usb modem, Vendor number 12d1, product id 1520.”
“The dongle, which is being manufactured in Malaysia, costs $119.”
“The inclusion of a physical dongle, which is coupled to the software via a software licensing system, greatly reduces the means to pirate software while still easily allowing the software to move from machine-to-machine.”
VMblog.com - Virtualization Technology News and Information for Everyone
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dongle’.
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Mundane Transformers
Bore that meets the eye.
potamogeton, testator, scrutator, isolator, confiteor, deflator, qwerty, susceptor, champertor, preemptor, disinfector, infractor and 91 more...
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The weird, the wonderful and the plai...
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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Notable
undulate, priaprism, alphanumeric, conjure, love, roughshod, helpless, palatial, chortle, swimmingly, mustachioed, symbiotic and 21 more...
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USB flash thumb memory drive key disk...
for Anil -- a list for those whatchamacallits.
USB key, flash drive, thumb drive, pen drive, memory stick, jump drive, key ring drive, memory key, dongle, usb tag, USB stick, chiavetta and 4 more...
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Dirty Words?
flange, shunt, dictum, angina, cunctator, mastication, spelunker, shiitake, rimshot, arsole, forebulge, fecund and 34 more...
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Serendipity's Words
defenestration, mercurial, syzygy, wicked, iniquitous, metastable, demimonde, entropic, ephemeral, irreligious, frisbee, manifold and 474 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
spicolli's Words
terrapin, ravenous, fuck, sepulchral, garlic, suss, queer, curmudgeon, foodie, intricate, omphalos, subversion and 534 more...
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It Has a Name??
Yes. Yes it does.
aglet, armsaye, scroop, rowel, ferrule, rasceta, chanking, philtrum, frenulum, keeper, agelast, punt and 285 more...
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NihonGoose's Words
colander, doily, nacre, mandible, carapace, glutinous, penumbral, skein, mollify, colloquial, sanguine, chagrin and 118 more...
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Words that are fun to say
stipple, carbuncle, dongle, exemplar, misbegotten, gigolo, salubrious, jupiter, propinquity, piglet, tobogganing, supercilious and 309 more...
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logicalbiscotti's omniglottery
i heart words.
lolligag, defenestrate, dammsuga, kakumei, in cahoots, spleen, hubris, epoch, anaphylaxis, lummox, tincture, schadenfreude and 156 more...
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Favorite Words
crunk, ostentatious, shellac, smoot, thrice, somnambulant, nefarious, nostalgic, shenanigans, hooligans, oracle, torr and 142 more...
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cringe quotes
These words and phrases may make you cringe. You might feel embarrassed for the person who says them, or perhaps just annoyed to hear them utter such terms.
cuppa, large and in charge, gay boyfriend, avo, little boys' room, captain obvious, kewl, functionality, blogosphere, chill, appie, lish and 8 more...
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Words that sound dirty, but aren't
Inspired by a Candid Camera sketch.
horehound, fugue, ramrod, jocular, thespian, titmouse, masticate, pussyfoot, angina, booby, formicate, hoar and 64 more...
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Superfluoshu -1
wrangle, plurality, ersatz, dongle, melancholia, mephistophelian, wurlitzer, mangonel, weeaboo, non-euclidean, chunder, whosawhatsit and 4 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for dongle.
russwood The first use of the word dongle that I can find is in the influential BBC radio show The Goons dating back to January 24th 1956
In the episode The Jet Propelled NAAFI (series 6 Episode 19) the character Seagoon says
"Great larrups of dongle. He thinks he's a little tea-stained, crumpet-ridden idiot."
Also in December 1957. The episode Vanishing Room contains the line
"Flip my dongle and lower my grobblers"
The word was also used in one of the early Monty Python episodes.
May 1, 2011
plutoman A couple of weeks ago in a meeting I had to explain the meaning of this word to the whole marketing department. I think I got as far as "it's a device..." Jul 26, 2009