tiddlywinks en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (General-American) audio
- /ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/ (General-American)
- /ˈtɪdlɪ-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋks/ (Received-Pronunciation)
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.
Meanings
-
(form-of, plural) plural of tiddlywink
form of tiddlywink
-
(also, attributive, plural, plural-only) 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.
Mantrap—Sinclair Lewis—Harcourt, Brace. The great realist plays an amusing game of tiddlywinks in the north woods.
1926 September, “The Bookman’s Guide to Fiction”, in John Farrar, editor, The Bookman, volume LXIV, number 1, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 90, column 1: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.
1894 August, Henrietta O[ctavia] Barnett, “The Home or the Barrack for the Children of the State”, in The Contemporary Review, volume LXVI, London: Isbister and Company […], →OCLC, page 246: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."
[1890 January 18, M. D., “Queries. [Kiddlewink.]”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume IX (7th Series), number 212, London: Published […] [b]y John C. Francis, →OCLC, page 48, column 2: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): […]
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 17: Ithaca]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 638:
- (figuratively, plural, plural-only) Especially in the form to play tiddlywinks: a meaningless or unimportant activity.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tiddleywinks | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Tiddledy-Winks | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tidley winks | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Tiddley Winks | alternative | lexicographic |
Relateds
wink (tiddlywinks terminology) · Bristol (tiddlywinks terminology) · piddle (tiddlywinks terminology) · boondock (tiddlywinks terminology) · gromp (tiddlywinks terminology) · Carnovsky (tiddlywinks terminology) · squop (tiddlywinks terminology) · squidger (tiddlywinks terminology) · pot (tiddlywinks terminology)
Synonyms
Translations (26)
hu bolha-játék (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · es pulga (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · pt jogo da pulga (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · sl bolhice (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · eo saltodiskoj (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · da loppespil (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · it gioco delle pulci (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · pl pchełki (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · ru игра́ в бло́шки (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · cmn 挑圆片 (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · uk гра в блі́шки (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · de Flohhüpfspiel (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · sh skakanje buha (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · lv blusiņu spēle (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · es juego de la pulga (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · no loppe-spel (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · fi kirppupeli (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · fr jeu de puces (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · sk blchy (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · es pulga saltarina (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · nl vlooienspel (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · sv loppspel (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · de Flohspiel (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · af skyfiespel (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · ja 彈き (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container) · ja 弾き (competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs as possible into a container)