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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

chitter en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtʃɪtə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈt͡ʃɪtɚ/ ga

Etymology

From Middle English chiteren, chitren, cheteren. Ultimately onomatopoeic; compare didder and teeter as well as German zittern.

Meanings

  1. To make a series of high-pitched sounds; to twitter, chirp or chatter.
    • It was a beautifully sunny day and beetles could be heard chittering loudly in the rose garden by the side of the path made out of antique bricks.
  2. (Scotland, obsolete) To shiver or chatter with cold.
    • Whare wilt thou cower thy chittering wing, / An' close thy e'e? 1786, Robert Burns, A Winter Night:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
chittering Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
chitters Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
chittered Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
chittered Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

chitter-chatter

chitter en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtʃɪtə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈt͡ʃɪtɚ/ ga

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, alternative, dialectal) Alternative form of chitterling.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
chitters Number=Plur lexicographic