dodman
/ˈdɑdmən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.22 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A land-based snail.
noun
A snail's shell.
noun
A surveyor.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "Yt is as great pyte to se a woman wepe / As yt is to se a sely dodman crepe, / Or, as ye wold say, a sely goose go barefote."
- "In that a Snayl or Dodman, vvhich is not only not vvarm, but to our feeling, very cold, is fain to brood its as cold svveatty eggs, neſted upon a cold vvet earth, beſpievving them about vvith the fuzze of a cold clammy froth, in coldish [d]raughty vveather, and all making vvay to a kind and timely hatching of them: […] I dare undertake to light ſooner of that vvarmth and reek and air, that vvill hatch an hens egge, than that cold and devv and clammineſs, that goes to the hatching of a ſnails."
- "A snail is also called Dodman in Suffolk and Norfolk."
- ""[…] I'm a reg'lar Dodman, I am," said Mr. Peggotty, by which he meant snail, and this was his allusion to being slow to go, for he had attempted to go after every sentence, and had somehow or other come back again; "but I wish you both well, and I wish you happy!""
- "DODMAN. A snail. Norfolk. Also, a snail-shell."
- "The Creatures that caſt their Skin are, the Snake, the Viper, the Grashopper, the Lizard, the Silk-worm, &c. Thoſe that caſt their Shell are, the Lobſter, the Crab, the Cra-fish, the Hodmandod or Dodman, the Tortoise, &c. The old Skins are found, but the old Shells never: So as it is like they ſcale off, and crumble away by degrees."
Etymology
Possibly dod (“(archaic) rounded, bare hilltop”) + -man, in the sense of a creature carrying a hill on its back. The word dod is from dod (“to clip, cut or lop off”), from Middle English dodden (“to shave, shear; to trim (a plant); to poll (cattle); to cut off (someone's head)”), from dod, dodde (“measure of grain”), from Old English. The surveyor sense appears to be based on a misconception by English amateur archaeologist and author Alfred Watkins (1855–1935) in his book The Old Straight Track (1925).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɑdmən/
- British English: /ˈdɒdmən/