fettle
- state; condition: in fine fettle.
- 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
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
- to remove (excess moulding material and casting irregularities) from a cast component
- to line or repair (the walls of a furnace)
- British dialect
- to prepare or arrange (a thing, oneself, etc), esp to put a finishing touch to
- to repair or mend (something)
- state of health, spirits, etc (esp in the phrase in fine fettle)
- another name for fettling
Word Origin for fettle
Word Origin and History for fettle
"condition, state, trim," c.1750, Lancashire dialect, from fettle (v.) "to make ready, arrange" (14c.), perhaps from Old English fetel "a girdle, belt," from Proto-Germanic *fatiloz (cf. German fessel "fetter, chain," Old Norse fetill "strap, brace"), from *fat- "to hold."
fettle
(fĕt′l)- Proper or sound condition.
- Mental or emotional state; spirits.