pindling

¹ American  

[pind-ling] / ˈpɪnd lɪŋ /

adjective

Older Use.

1. puny; sickly; frail; weak.

---

Pindling ² American  

[pind-ling] / ˈpɪnd lɪŋ /

noun

1. Lynden Oscar Father of the Bahamas, 1930–2000, Bahamian political leader: first prime minister 1967–92.

---

pindling British  

/ ˈpɪndlɪŋ /

adjective

1. peevish or fractious

2. sickly or puny

---

Etymology

Origin of pindling

1860–65, pine ² + -ling ¹, on the model of dwindling

Example Sentences

“You’re mighty pindling to be carrying it. Watch you don’t spill it.”

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

Always after Ellen's mother had said to her father that she thought Ellen looked pindling he was late about coming home from the shop, and would turn in at the gate laden with paper parcels.

From The Portion of Labor by Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins

And all the reason for it that one could see was that pindling, hollow-eyed young fellow who had entered the room in her wake.

From Aurora the Magnificent by Brownell, Gertrude Hall

On the religious side all that they have had is the occasional itinerant preacher, thundering at them of the wrath of God; and on the cultural what Aunt Dalmanutha calls the "pindling" district school.

From Sight to the Blind by Furman, Lucy

He was a wide-mouthed, sallow and pindling little boy, whose pipe-stemmed legs looked all the thinner for being contrasted with his feet, which were long and narrow.

From Fanny Herself by Ferber, Edna