tottleadj.
/ˈtɒt(ə)l/ dialect.
Weak-headed, silly, dazed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > giddiness, empty-headedness > [adjective]
idlec825
giddyc1000
volage?a1366
apec1370
foolisha1382
vain1390
idleful1483
volageous1487
glaikit1488
cock-brained1530
apish1532
empty1550
sillyc1555
frivolous?1563
tickle-headed1583
light-braineda1593
frothy1593
owlish1596
bird-witted1605
empty-headed1614
idle-headed1614
empty-pateda1628
marmosetical1630
grollish1637
feather-headed1647
nonsense1647
whirl-crowned1648
feather-brained1649
swimmering1650
soft-pated1651
weather-headeda1652
shuttlecock1660
drum-headed1664
chicken-brained1678
halokit1724
desipient1727
shatter-pated1727
scattered-brained1747
light-thoughted1777
scatter-brained1804
shandy-pated1806
hellicat1815
feather-pated1819
inane1819
weather-brained1826
bubble-headed1827
tomfoolish1838
bird-brained1892
tottle1894
fluffy1898
scatty1911
wandery1912
scattery1924
twitterpated1943
1894 S. Baring-Gould Kitty Alone II. 94 Wi' the death of her little maid, gone almost tottle (silly).
1897 S. Baring-Gould Furze Bloom (1899) 13 I reckon. Genefer, the old lady be gone quite tottle (dazed).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
tottlev.1
/ˈtɒt(ə)l/ Chiefly dialect.
1.
a. intransitive. To move and bubble, as a boiling liquid; also said of the vessel; and applied to the somewhat similar motion and sound of a rivulet over a stony bed. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flow [verb (intransitive)] > with agitated movement or rush
buschc1400
bullera1522
purla1586
frizado1605
trench1616
tottle1717
fret1727
brattle1850
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > action of boiling > boil [verb (intransitive)] > with bubbling or agitation
playa1400
to boil (seethe) a wallop1567
wallop1579
tottle1717
corroboree1881
1717 Lament for Ld. Maxwell in Jacob. Songs & Ball. (1887) 103 'Side the sang o' the birds, where some burn tottles owre.
1739 A. Nicol Nature without Art 100 In Winter-time a Piece fat Beef to tottle.
1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Trad. (1887) 32 The woman..cast a longing eye at the kail-pot ‘tottling on the fire’.
b. transitive. To cause to simmer or boil. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > action of boiling > boil or cause to boil [verb (transitive)]
welleOE
seethec1000
wallc1310
play?c1450
boila1475
siede1481
ebulliate1599
elixate1623
tottlea1774
a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 186 Imprimis, then, a haggis fat, Weel tottl'd in a seything pat.
1776 D. Herd Anc. & Mod. Sc. Songs (ed. 2) II. 182 Ye's get a cock well totled i' the pat, An ye'll come hame, an ye'll come hame.
2. intransitive. To move unsteadily and with short tottering steps; to toddle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > with short unsteady steps
toddle?1590
paddle1606
dade1612
diddle1632
daddle1710
dacker1817
tottle1822
tot1824
poddle1827
1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie III. xxxiii. 287 Their bairns..when they begin to tottle about the house.
1824 J. Galt Rothelan vi. iii The tidy grand-dame..is seen with a pitcher slowly tottling across the fields to the dairy.
1873 E. E. Hale In his Name i. 4 The twin babies who could hardly tottle along the road.
3. intransitive. = topple v. 3. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > topple over
welt13..
tiltc1390
overfalla1400
waltc1400
tirvec1425
top over tervea1450
overtumble1487
overwelta1522
to fall over1541
top1545
topple1600
tramble1609
tope1796
tottle1830
overtopple1855
whemmel1895
pitch-pole1896
1830 Hogg in Blackwood's Mag. 28 895 Off flew the English warder's head, And tottled into Foxton burn.
1905 Eng. Dial. Dict. VI. 203/1 T'oad fella nearly tottled of t' steul 'at he was set on wi' laughing.
Derivatives
ˈtottledom n. (for toddledom), the sphere of toddlers or toddling; babyhood, infancy.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > baby or infant > [noun] > babyhood or infancy
milkeOE
barnagec1400
infancec1400
infancya1513
babeship1542
babehood1548
cradle1555
cradle-hood1599
baby agea1617
biggin1616
babyship1617
dentity1638
babyhood1748
babyism1798
paphood1837
babydom1853
infanthood1862
infantage1866
tottledom1889
toddlerhood1917
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 354 There not being the least fear of its..ever exceeding the limits of cameraic tottledom.
ˈtottling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > [noun] > agitated movement
hurla1400
working1575
purl1650
tottling1864
bobble1880
roil1893
wind shadow1909
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > action of boiling > [noun] > agitation of liquid in boiling
walmOE
welling1371
boilingc1380
fervence14..
fervoura1440
play1440
effervescence1651
exaestuation1666
effervescency1681
estuation1684
wambling1686
popple1826
soubresaut1849
tottling1864
1864 A. Leighton Myst. Legends Edinb. (1886) 68 They heard the sound of..the sweltering and tottling of the pot.
tottlish adj. /ˈtɒtlɪʃ/ unsteady, totterish.
/ˈtɒtlɪʃ/ unsteady, totterish.ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective] > tottering > unstable
unstable1390
unsteadfasta1400
tickle1515
unstayed1594
unsteady1598
shittle1601
firmless1605
flitty1642
totty1652
shuttlec1682
unfirm1697
wankly1795
wankya1825
cockery1825
wobbly1833
tottlish1835
earthquaky1837
tottling1849
shaky1850
cockly1859
unsteadied1865
shoggy1866
wankle1869
wibblety-wobblety1877
cockerty1895
tipsy1895
rocky1900
wibbly-wobbly1901
tottly1905
topply1913
wibbly1914
1835 Knickerbocker 6 6 Had she not been obliged..to steady her tottleish bark with the paddle which now loitered behind the stern.
1853 S. Moodie Life in Clearings 16 This was the first time he had ever ventured upon the water in such a tottleish machine [as a birch-bark canoe].
1889 C. F. Woolson Jupiter Lights xxviii She'll soon fill it full of tottlish little tables and dimity.
ˈtottly adj. = tottlish adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective] > tottering > unstable
unstable1390
unsteadfasta1400
tickle1515
unstayed1594
unsteady1598
shittle1601
firmless1605
flitty1642
totty1652
shuttlec1682
unfirm1697
wankly1795
wankya1825
cockery1825
wobbly1833
tottlish1835
earthquaky1837
tottling1849
shaky1850
cockly1859
unsteadied1865
shoggy1866
wankle1869
wibblety-wobblety1877
cockerty1895
tipsy1895
rocky1900
wibbly-wobbly1901
tottly1905
topply1913
wibbly1914
1905 Eng. Dial. Dict. VI. 203/1 Tottly,..ready to fall, unstable.
1910 R. Kipling Rewards & Fairies 155 My legs are pretty tottly, but I made shift to go on deck.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
tottlev.2
regional.
transitive. = total v. 2.
ΚΠ
1891 E. Gosse Gossip in Library xiii. 164 She did not tottle up her milk-scores on the bastard-title [of a book].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
<
adj.1894v.11717v.21891- as bare as one's hand
- as best
- as best one can
- as best one may
- as big as a house
- as big as bull-beef
- as big as bullbeef
- as billy-be-damned
- as billybedamned
- as black as a crow
- as black as coal
- as black as one'a hat
- as black as one's hat
- as black as the ace of spades
- as black as the crook
- as black as the earl of hell's waistcoat
- as black in early use also swart as coal
- as black, or ugly, as sin
- as blithe as a laverock
- as blive
- as bold as brass
- as bright as a button
- as brouke i my chyn, eyes, heid
- as busy as a bee
- as busy as a hen with one chick