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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.


adjective

kittler, kittlest
  1. ticklish; fidgety.

  2. requiring skill or caution; precarious.

kittle British  
/ ˈkɪtəl /

adjective

  1. capricious and unpredictable

"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

verb

  1. to be troublesome or puzzling to (someone)

  2. 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

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

So across the creek he went, took another drink, and laid down and fell asleep right by the kittle.

From The Land of Long Ago by Eliza Calvert Hall

"Sit down, sit down, and while the kittle is biling for tay, I can listen to your trroobles."

From At Boarding School with the Tucker Twins by Nell Speed

I was just on the pint ov thinking ov sumthing else when the landlord cum out to the frunt stupe ov the tavern stand holding by a string the bottom ov an old brass kittle.

From The Complete Works of Josh Billings by Henry W. Shaw

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

From Krindlesyke by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

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 Richard Runciman Terry

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