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definitions

kittle

[kit-l]British Dialect
verb (used with object), kit·tled, kit·tling.
  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.
adjective, kit·tler, kit·tlest.
  1. ticklish; fidgety.
  2. requiring skill or caution; precarious.

Origin of kittle

1475–85; earlier kytylle, ketil (compare Middle English kitellinge (gerund), late Old English kitelung); cognate with Middle High German kützeln; akin to Old Norse kitla, German kitzeln to tickle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for kittle

Historical Examples of kittle

  • He's green when you put him in the kittle, and when you take him out, he's red.

    The Woman-Haters

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • I always said his honour would get into trouble with a kittle girl like that.

    Kilgorman

    Talbot Baines Reed

  • And says he, 'This beats the Kittle Creek babtizin' all to pieces.'

    Aunt Jane of Kentucky

    Eliza Calvert Hall

  • Kittle, in the phrase "kittle cattle," is identical with tickle; cf. Ger.

  • "Eh, but women are kittle cattle to drive," said poor Dick ruefully.

    A Simpleton

    Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for kittle

kittle

adjective
  1. capricious and unpredictable
verb
  1. to be troublesome or puzzling to (someone)
  2. to tickle

Word Origin for kittle

C16: probably from Old Norse kitla to tickle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012