cuttle
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to fold (cloth) face to face after finishing.
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to allow (cloth) to lie without further treatment after fulling, milling, scouring, etc.
noun
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short for cuttlefish cuttlebone
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a small cuttlefish, Sepiola atlantica, often found on beaches
Etymology
Origin of cuttle1
before 1000; late Middle English codel, Old English cudele (replaced in the 16th century by cuttlefish and subsequently reshortened)
Origin of cuttle2
First recorded in 1535–45; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the other side of the room, Harold Skimpole frolics above the writing desk, while by his side Captain Cuttle squats and Mr. Dombey raises a top hat.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 23, 2016
Cuttle fish can be found at various sites along the Dorset coast including Swanage Miss Rance said there was a misconception about the "underwater world".
From BBC • Sep. 15, 2012
The Derby was an old story to Lord Woolavington; his Captain Cuttle won it in 1922.
From Time Magazine Archive
Donoghue won the 1921 race on J. B. Joel's Humorist and the 1922 race on Lord Woolavington's Captain Cuttle.
From Time Magazine Archive
There was wisdom in the old man's rough-spoken sentence—"solid chunks of wisdom," as Captain Ed'ard Cuttle would fain express it—and it sank deep into my memory.
From My Unknown Chum by Fairbanks, Charles Bullard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
