tatter1
[tat-er]
- 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.
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- to tear or wear to tatters.
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- to become ragged.
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Origin of tatter1
1375–1425; (noun) late Middle English < Old Norse tǫturr rag, tatter; akin to Old English tætteca rag, shred; (v.) back formation from tattered
tatter2
[tat-er]
- a person who does tatting, especially as an occupation.
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Origin of tatter2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tatters
Contemporary Examples
She was 26 years old and her life was in tatters, her future a black cloud.
But they may not have time with Putin challenging, Crimea invaded and an economy in tatters.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of the King, Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Meanwhile the economy is in tatters and the future looks damn bleak.
A few years later, though, when my Jerusalemite husband and I moved temporarily to the U.S., Oslo was already in tatters.
Historical Examples
I forgot all my tatters and stood on tiptoe in the stirrups to overpeer the fence-row.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
The last fragment of self-respect, of bravado even, was in tatters.
A Breath of Prairie and other storiesWill Lillibridge
The bird was pouring out its heart, tearing the moonlight to tatters.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, CompleteAlbert Bigelow Paine
I knew what to do with his tatters, but that crimson thatch dumfounded me.
The O'RuddyStephen Crane
A moonbeam rested on her loosened hair and her dress that was torn to tatters.
SacrificeStephen French Whitman
tatter
- to make or become ragged or worn to shreds
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- (plural) torn or ragged pieces, esp of material
- in tatters
- torn to pieces; in shreds
- destroyed or ruined
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Word Origin
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 tatters
tatter
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper