Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tiddlywinks

/ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.61 in modern English

Syllables: tid-dly-winks
IPA: /ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/

23

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs (each called a tiddlywink or wink) as possible into a container (the pot) by pressing on their edges with a larger disc (a shooter or squidger), causing them to jump up from the surface on which they are placed.

noun

Especially in the form to play tiddlywinks: a meaningless or unimportant activity.

noun

plural of tiddlywink

verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of tiddlywink

Example Sentences

"Can any of your correspondents inform me what is the derivation of the word "kiddlewink," or "tiddledy winks"? A friend tells me in the Midland Counties it denotes a house where beer is sold without a licence. Lately a game has been introduced here bearing the name of "Tiddledywinks.""
"Recreation rooms were provided for both boys and girl, and the long winter evenings were anything but dreary, for when school was done and work over the children gathered in the brilliantly lit, hot-pipe-heated rooms and played draughts, bagatelle, lotto, or tiddly-winks."
"What had been his hypothetical singular solutions? Parlour games (dominos, halma, tiddledywinks, spilikins, cup and ball, nap, spoil five, bezique, twentyfive, beggar my neighbour, draughts, chess or backgammon): […]"
"Mantrap—Sinclair Lewis—Harcourt, Brace. The great realist plays an amusing game of tiddlywinks in the north woods."

Etymology

From tiddlywink + -s, possibly from tiddly (“(informal) little, tiny”) + wink (“blinking of one eye”), perhaps borrowed from tiddlywink, etymology 1 (“unlicensed beerhouse or pawnshop; game played using dominoes”, etc.). The game was patented by a British bank clerk, Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900), on 19 October 1889, and the name Tiddledy-Winks trademarked by him the same year. Tiddlywinks is the preferred modern spelling; the earliest known use of this spelling dates from 1894.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: tiddlywink

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/
British English: /ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋks/

Inflected Forms

Tiddledy-Winks (alternative) Tiddley Winks (alternative) tiddleywinks (alternative) tidley winks (alternative)

Frequently Paired Words

boondock Bristol Carnovsky gromp piddle pot squidger squop

Synonyms

winks

Questions

How do you pronounce tiddlywinks?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/.
What does tiddlywinks mean?: A competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs (each called a tiddlywink or wink) as possible into a container (the pot) by pressing on their edges with a larger disc (a shooter or squidger), causing them to jump up from the surface on which they are placed.
Where does tiddlywinks come from?: From tiddlywink + -s, possibly from tiddly (“(informal) little, tiny”) + wink (“blinking of one eye”), perhaps borrowed from tiddlywink, etymology 1 (“unlicensed beerhouse or pawnshop; game played using dominoes”, etc.). The game was patented by a British bank clerk, Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900), on 19 October 1889, and the name Tiddledy-Winks trademarked by him the same year. Tiddlywinks is the preferred modern spelling; the earliest known use of this spelling dates from 1894.

How to pronounce tiddlywinks

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tiddlywinks”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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