teetotum

American  

[tee-toh-tuhm] / tiˈtoʊ təm /

noun

1. any small top spun with the fingers.

2. a kind of die having four sides, each marked with a different initial letter, spun with the fingers in an old game of chance.

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teetotum British  

/ tiːˈtəʊtəm /

noun

1. a spinning top bearing letters of the alphabet on its four sides

2. such a top used as a die in gambling games

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Etymology

Origin of teetotum

1710–20; earlier T totum, alteration of totum name of toy (< Latin tōtum, neuter of tōtus all) by prefixing its initial letter, which appeared on one side of the toy

Example Sentences

Though no disturbance was reported last week at Brooklyn's Evergreen Cemetery, by rights Anthony Comstock should have been spinning like a teetotum in his grave.

From Time Magazine Archive

It spun round and round like a teetotum, then fell over to one side with a crash.

From A Hero of Li?ge by Strang, Herbert

In Polynesia the coco-nut is spun like a teetotum to discover a thief.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various

However, I could not augur ill of one who laughed so heartily, nor of the other, who seemed so happy in making himself a teetotum.

From Rattlin the Reefer by Marryat, Frederick

Bevan, striding forward, spun the housemaid round on her feet as if she were a teetotum.

From Miss Arnott's Marriage by Marsh, Richard