kittle

American  

[kit-l] / ˈkɪt l /

verb (used with object)

kittled, kittling

1. to tickle with the fingers; agitate or stir, as with a spoon.

2. to excite or rouse (a person), especially by flattery or strong words.

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adjective

kittler, kittlest

1. ticklish; fidgety.

2. requiring skill or caution; precarious.

kittle British  

/ ˈkɪtəl /

adjective

1. capricious and unpredictable

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verb

1. to be troublesome or puzzling to (someone)

2. to tickle

Etymology

Origin of kittle

First recorded in 1475–85; earlier kytylle, ketil (compare Middle English verbal noun kitilling, kitlinge “tickling” late Old English citelung, kitelung ); cognate with Middle High German kützeln; akin to Old Norse kitla, German kitzeln “to tickle”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kittle kittled

Somethin caught his interest an he turned round and afore you could say jackrobinson he backed up and sot right down in the kittle.

From Time Magazine Archive

I still got our old copper kittle an she's 30 gallons if she's a spoon-full.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is a long and rather kittle word, but it is the only one that we have.

From Health Five Lay Sermons to Working-People by Brown, John

Slap the old hawbuck over, snatch up the kittle and run with it.

From Si Klegg, Book 4 (of 6) Experiences Of Si And Shorty On The Great Tullahoma Campaign by McElroy, John

This hairst, my certy! 's been a kittle lang ane, Ae day nocht dein', an' the neist a thrang ane.

From Legends of the North; The Guidman O' Inglismill and The Fairy Bride by Buchan, Patrick

Bell: What have you heard this fifteen-year, except The bleat of sheep, till Ruth’s voice kittled your ear?

From Krindlesyke by Gibson, Wilfrid Wilson

Pronounced to rhyme with "shall" only the vowel must be very much prolonged. kittled = tickled. myek = make. gairdle cake = girdle cake, i.e. a cake baked on a griddle.

From The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties by Terry, Richard Runciman