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

The bow is caught by the current and the steamer then rapidly "spun round" by its swiftness, almost as though on a teetotum, the engines meanwhile backing up.

From A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River by Cumberland, Barlow

As he spoke, the boat swept round into a sort of cross-current among the waves, where an object resembling a man was observed spinning slowly round like a lazy teetotum.

From The Coxswain's Bride also, Jack Frost and Sons; and, A Double Rescue by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)

The instant that everybody is in the boat it is shot out into the water like an arrow from a bow, and brought head around, like a teetotum.

From The Land of Fire A Tale of Adventure by Reid, Mayne

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