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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

The Skipper gazed as wise and solemn As if he felt his hand on helm His cutter o'er the green waves guiding, Close hauled, through kittle channel gliding.

From A Golfing Idyll or The Skipper's Round with the Deil On the Links of St. Andrews by Flint, Violet

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

"Lucy Ann, take that bucket, and fill it with water and fetch that brass kittle in the barn," ordered her father: "that cow ort to be watered."

From The Tobacco Tiller A Tale of the Kentucky Tobacco Fields by Hackley, Sarah Bell