tatter

[tat-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tatter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a torn piece hanging loose from the main part, as of a garment or flag.

a separate torn piece; shred.

tatters, torn or ragged clothing: dressed in rags and tatters.

verb (used with object)

to tear or wear to tatters.

verb (used without object)

to become ragged.

Origin of tatter

1375–1425; (noun) late Middle English < Old Norse tǫturr rag, tatter; akin to Old English tætteca rag, shred; (v.) back formation from tattered

tatter

[tat-er]

noun

a person who does tatting, especially as an occupation.

Origin of tatter

First recorded in 1880–85; tat + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tatter

speck, fragment, snippet, modicum, whit, smidgen, iota, sliver, ounce, hole, crack, needle, garb, frock, sportswear, tear, shave, unravel, erode, frazzle

Examples from the Web for tatter

Historical Examples of tatter

It had gone; no trace was left, not a tatter of cloth, not a spot of blood, nothing.
The Night Riders
Ridgwell Cullum
Why may you not have saved that tatter of the old gown twice seven years, then?
Donald and Dorothy
Mary Mapes Dodge
You go round by Tatter Brook, says he, an climb the hill from behind.
Every Man for Himself
Norman Duncan
Now quite unexpectedly we saw the "tatter of scarlet" from a new angle.
A Tatter of Scarlet
S. R. Crockett
Was a tatter't boggart, in a field, an' that they left behind.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105 September 23, 1893
Various

British Dictionary definitions for tatter

tatter

verb

to make or become ragged or worn to shreds

noun

(plural) torn or ragged pieces, esp of material

in tatters

torn to pieces; in shreds
destroyed or ruined

Word Origin for tatter

C14: of Scandinavian origin; compare Icelandic töturr rag, Old English tættec, Old High German zæter rag

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

Word Origin and History for tatter

mid-14c., "clad in slashed garments," from Old Norse toturr "rag," cognate with Old English tættec, tætteca "rag, tatter," Low German tater "tatter." The noun is attested from c.1400.