teetotal
[ tee-toht-l, tee-toht-l ]
/ tiˈtoʊt l, ˈtiˌtoʊt l /
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adjective
of or relating to, advocating, or pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink.
Informal. absolute; complete.
verb (used without object), tee·to·taled, tee·to·tal·ing or (especially British) tee·to·talled, tee·to·tal·ling.
to practice teetotalism.
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Origin of teetotal
Reduplicated variant of total, coined by R. Turner, of Preston, England, in 1833, in a speech advocating total abstinence from alcoholic drinks
OTHER WORDS FROM teetotal
tee·to·tal·ly, adverbDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use teetotal in a sentence
Take my word for it, but old Johnsen was a bit sore that night; and wishing he'd never gone in for teetotalling!
Dry Fish and Wet|Anthon Bernhard Elias NilsenCome to the smoking room, and let's see what you can do after teetotalling for a year.
The Philanderer|George Bernard Shaw
British Dictionary definitions for teetotal
teetotal
/ (tiːˈtəʊtəl) /
adjective
of, relating to, or practising abstinence from alcoholic drink
dialect complete
Derived forms of teetotal
teetotaller, nounteetotally, adverbteetotalism, nounWord Origin for teetotal
C19: allegedly coined in 1833 by Richard Turner, English advocate of total abstinence from alcoholic liquors; probably from total, with emphatic reduplication
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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