| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈtitter, n.1 Obs. rare.
[Derivation unascertained.]
Some kind of weed found in cornfields; perh. a wild vetch (strangle-tare, tine).
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 109 The titters or tine Makes hop to pine. Ibid. 113 From wheat go and rake out the titters or tine, If eare be not foorth, it will rise againe fine.
▪ II. titter, n.2|ˈtɪtə(r)|
[f. titter v.1]
The act of tittering; a stifled laugh, a giggle.
1728Morgan Algiers II. v. 314, I do not think I ever can forget it: for it so often sets me on the Titter. 1777F. Burney Early Diary 7 Apr., He kept a continual titter among the young ladies. 1874Burnand My Time xvii. 144 Irrespressible titters among those of the audience most remote from the stage.
b. transf. A sound as of tittering; a rustling.
1856Bryant Gladness Nat. iv, There's a titter of winds in that beechen-tree.
▪ III. titter, n.3 slang.
[Of uncertain origin: cf. tit n.3, tit n.6]
A young woman or girl.
1812J. H. Vaux Vocab. Flash Lang. in Mem. (1964) 274 Titter, a young woman or girl. 1845E. J. Wakefield Adventure in N.Z. I. xi. 319 A chief was called [by whalers] a ‘nob’; a slave, a ‘doctor’; a woman, a ‘heifer’; a girl, a ‘titter’. 1882Sydney Slang Dict. 6/2 Nark, to watch, to look after; ‘Nark the titter’, watch the girl. a1890in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1890) II. 356/2 Only a glass of bitter! Only a sandwich mild! Only a stupid titter! Only she's not a child! 1953Landfall (N.Z.) Sept. 179 Boys, she's a larky little titter.
▪ IV. titter, v.1|ˈtɪtə(r)|
[app. echoic: cf. Sw. dial. tittra to giggle (Rietz); but perh. related to tittle v.1]
intr. To laugh in a suppressed or covert way (often as a result of nervousness, or in affectation or ridicule); to giggle.
a1619Fletcher Wit without M. iv. ii, I could so titter now and laugh. 1657[see tittering vbl. n.]. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Titter, to giggle, or laugh wantonly. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xix, She went away tittering. 1792A. Young Trav. France 117, I observed him several times playing off that small sort of wit, and flippant readiness to titter, which, I suppose, is a part of his character. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxvii, Upon which Mrs. Nickleby tittered, and Sir Mulberry laughed, and Pyke and Pluck roared. 1864Knight Passages Work. Life I. v. 221 The young women tittered when the old clerk indulged in his established joke.
b. trans. To utter or say with suppressed laughter.
1787Minor I. viii. 28 No, it shall never be tittered about as at the last races. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. ix, ‘Never mind me’, tittered Miss Squeers.
Hence titteˈration nonce-wd., tittering.
1754Richardson Grandison (1781) V. xliii. 276 The holding up of a straw will throw me into a titteration.
▪ V. titter, v.2 Now dial.|ˈtɪtə(r)|
Forms: 5–7 titer, 7 tyter, tytter, tetter, 8–9 titter.
[ME. titer, implied in titering; = ON. titra to shake, shiver, OHG. zittarôn (G. zittern):—OTeut. *titrôjan; not found outside Teutonic. Cf. teeter.]
1. intr. To move unsteadily, as if about to fall; to totter, reel; to sway to and fro.
c1374[see tittering below]. a1618Raleigh Seat Govt. (1651) 60 So would the other [i.e. Kings' Crowns] easily tytter were they not fastened on their heads, with the strong chains of Civil Justice and Martial Discipline. 1644G. Plattes in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 198 Then the floor of the sellar will rise up, and tetter and swim like a bog-mere. 1798Frere & Canning Loves Triangles i. 26 in Anti-Jacobin 16 Apr. (1852) 107 Fair sylphish forms..Wave the gay wreath, and titter as they prance. 1904Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., (Worc.) Take care, the table titters.
2. intr. To see-saw. See also titter-totter.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Titter, to ride on each end of a balanced plank. Otherwise ‘titter-cum-totter’. 1854A. E. Baker Northpt. Gl., Titter, to ride on a balanced plank.
Hence ˈtittering vbl. n.2, the action of tottering or swaying; unsteady movement; fig. hesitation, vacillation; ppl. a.2 that totters or sways about.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 1695 (1744) (Campsall MS.) In titeryng and pursuyte and delayes The folk deuyne at waggynge of a stre. 1661K. W. Conf. Charac., Juryman Rustick (1860) 37 Then he gallops a titering pace home. 1739J. Spence Let. 23 Dec., in Academy 20 Feb. (1875) 191/3 So full of tittering and uncertainty in his carriage.
▪ VI. ˈtitter, adv. Now only north. dial.
Also 3 titer, 4 tyttar, 4–5 -er, 7–8 tider.
[Comparative of tite adv., with shortened vowel; cf. rather, latter, elder, utter. Cf. ODa. tidre more quickly, sooner, compar. of tit (Kalkar IV. 338).]
More quickly; sooner, earlier.
a1300Cursor M. 22481 (Edin.) Titer sal tai rin on grund Þan firslauht dos quen it es stund. 13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 231 He [Jonah] watz no tytter out-tulde þat tempest ne sessed. c1460Towneley Myst. viii. 293 Go, say to hym we wyll not grefe, Bot thay shall neuer the tytter gang. 1674Ray N.C. Words s.v. Astite, Tide in the North signifies soon, and tider or titter sooner. ‘The tider..you come, the tider you'll go’. 1684G. Meriton Yorks. Dial. 287 (E.D.S.) He had come titter..if he had knawn. 1874Waugh Chimney Corner (1879) 8 It brings 'em down, titter or latter,—as how strung they are.
b. More readily, more willingly, sooner, rather.
13..Cursor M. 28120 (Cott.) And titter wald i lesyng make Þan man my worde vn-treu to take. 1375Barbour Bruce ii. 518 Þai chesyt tyttar with þaim to ta Angyr and payn, na be þaim fra. c1440Alphabet of Tales 428 He grauntyd vnto þaim..at he wulde furste tytter take þe charge of þe empyre rather þan þe wurschup þeroff. 1724in Ramsay's Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 63, I had titter die than live wi' him a year. 1807R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball., Aul Hollow Tree v, Far titter than wear them, She'd burn them or tear them. 1855Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘I would titter go than stay’.
c. ellipt. the titter up, the one that is up sooner or first of two. north. dial.
1787Grose Provinc. Gloss. s.v., Tider up caw, let him that is up first call the others. 1790Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) 112 We set dawn that titter up sud coe tudder up neisht mornin. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘T' titter up t' sprunt mun ower [= hover] a bit’: the first up the hill must wait awhile.
▪ VII. titter
dial. form of tetter. |