fettle
[fet-l]
noun
state; condition: in fine fettle.
verb (used with object), fet·tled, fet·tling.
Ceramics. to remove mold marks from (a cast piece).
Metallurgy.
- to remove sand from (a casting).
- to repair the hearth of (an open-hearth furnace).
Origin of fettle
1300–50; Middle English fetle to shape, prepare, back formation from fetled, Old English *fetelede girded up, equivalent to fetel belt + -ede -ed2
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for fettle
Historical Examples of fettle
And they will keep in this fettle until they get off the Horn.
The Mutiny of the ElsinoreJack London
The gunners and swabbers were putting their cannon in fettle below decks.
The Black BuccaneerStephen W. Meader
"Faith, an' it's my mither's ain son that could fettle that," said the curate.
The Men of the Moss-HagsS. R. Crockett
With them gals to hender us we ain't a-going to be in no fettle for a skimper-scamper race with a fresh wheen o' the redskins.
The Master of ApplebyFrancis Lynde
The meetings were only memorable when Tammas Haggart was in fettle, to pronounce judgments in his well-known sarcastic way.
A Window in ThrumsJ. M. Barrie
fettle
verb (tr)
noun
Word Origin for fettle
C14 (in the sense: to put in order): back formation from fetled girded up, from Old English fetel belt
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fettle
[fĕt′l]
n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.