dandle
/ˈdændəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To move up and down on one's knee or in one's arms, in affectionate play, usually said of a child.
Transitive verb
noun
A teeter-totter; a seesaw.
Example Sentences
- "the young mother sat [the infant] upright in her lap, and[…]dandled it with a gloomy indifference."
- "You will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees."
- "Hands grasped me like a doll, and as I dandled thus between the meretrices of Abaia, I was lifted from my broad-armed chair in the inn of Saltus; yet still, for perhaps a hundred heartbeats more, I could not rid my mind of the sea and its green-haired women."
- "[T]hey have put me in a silk night-gown and gaudy fool's cap, and make me now and then stand in the window with it. I am ashamed to be dandled thus, and cannot look in the glass without blushing to see myself turned into such a pretty little master."
- "The book, thus dandled into popularity by bishops and good ladies, contained many pieces of nursery eloquence."
- "“Mark,” said Gabriel, sternly, “now you mind this: none of that dalliance-talk—that philandering way—that dandle-smack-and-coddle style of yours—about Miss Everdene. I don’t allow it. Do you hear?”"
Etymology
Compare Scots dandill (“to dander; go about idly; move uncertainly; trifle”), English dialectal dander (“to wander about; talk incoherently; rave”), Middle Dutch dantinnen (“to trifle”) (from French dandiner (“to swing; waddle”)), German dändeln, tändeln (“to trifle, dandle”), Middle Dutch and Provincial German danten (“to do foolish things; trifle”), German Tand (“trifle, prattle”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdændəl/
- British English: /ˈdændəl/