Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Touchy; unpredictable.
- transitive verb To tickle; arouse.
- transitive verb To puzzle; perplex.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To tickle: frequently followed by up.
- To confuse with questions or statements.
- Ticklish; difficult; nice; not easily managed; trying; vexatious.
- noun An obsolete or dialectal form of
kiddle . - To litter; bring forth kittens.
- noun A dialectal or obsolete form of
kettle .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb (Zoöl.), Prov. Eng. & Scot. To bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter.
- transitive verb Prov. Eng. & Scot. To tickle.
- adjective Prov. Eng. & Scot. Ticklish; not easily managed; troublesome; difficult; variable.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive, zoology, Scotland and Northern England To bring forth young, as a
cat ; tokitten ; tolitter . - verb transitive, Scotland and Northern England To
tickle , to touch lightly. - adjective Scotland and Northern England
Ticklish . - adjective Scotland and Northern England Not easily
managed ;troublesome ;difficult ;variable .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Behind her was a big bundle of extra clothing, and food, and an iron pot -- or, as she called it, a "kittle" -- for cooking their noonday meals.
Hillsboro People Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1918
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"Th 'kittle's biled ef you is ready," she announced.
Sweetapple Cove George van Schaick
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The springs creaked, chirpings arose from various parts of the car as it ran, but he coaxed the engine, performed miracles at bad places in the road, nursed the insufficient radiator surface and kept the "kittle" at a simmer.
Rimrock Trail 1906
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We are a "kittle" lot, and hard to please for long.
Complete Essays Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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We are a "kittle" lot, and hard to please for long.
As We Go Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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We are a "kittle" lot, and hard to please for long.
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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'kittle's jist a-biling, and the cups and sarsers ready laid,' and that, as it was such a wretched night out o 'doors, she'd made up her mind to have a nice, hot, comfortable cup o' tea -- a determination at which, by the most singular coincidence, the other two ladies had simultaneously arrived.
Sketches by Boz, illustrative of everyday life and every-day people Charles Dickens 1841
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A viewer who complains to the BBC can be sure that their complaint will be treated seriously. it is clear that the singular subject is in fact being used to mean All viewers and so the inherently plural nature of the their makes a kittle more sense.
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It minds me o' when I tellt t' doctor I was bad wi' my chest and he said it was reflective pain from my left leg. Hearts is kittle cattle at best, and jumpy as a kesh.
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A viewer who complains to the BBC can be sure that their complaint will be treated seriously. it is clear that the singular subject is in fact being used to mean All viewers and so the inherently plural nature of the their makes a kittle more sense.
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