diddle
/ˈdɪdəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.39 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
In percussion, two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL), similar to the drag, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "Paul was the first one to unzip his pants, take out his diddle, and make himself ready to pee on the wire."
- "[…] a long, wooden porch good for listening to coyotes and owls, with a glass of diddle at hand."
- "'No one ever got rich being honest,' the father said. 'Customers are there to be diddled.'"
- "And, when his forward strength began to bloom, / To see him diddle up and down the Room!"
- "What's that tune that goes "diddle di-dum, diddle di-dum, diddle di-dum-dum"?"
Etymology
From dialectal duddle (“to trick”) (16th century), and diddle, duddle (“to totter”) (17th century), perhaps dissimilated from dialectal didder, dither (“to shake, tremble”), from Middle English dideren (“to shake, quiver, tremble”) and Middle English bididren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to trick, deceive”). Compare also Saterland Frisian diedelje (“to play or sing without a melody”), Dutch bedodden, bedotten (“to trick, fool, diddle”), German Low German Diedeldentjes (“pranks, pranking”). Possibly influenced or reinforced by the name (which itself was probably chosen as an allusion to duddle) of the swindling character Jeremy Diddler in Kenney's Raising the Wind (1803). Meanings "to have sex with" and "to molest" are from the 19th century; "to masturbate" is from the 1950s. Compare dildo.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: dideren, bididren, bedidrian
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɪdəl/
- British English: /ˈdɪdəl/