tiddlywink

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋk/, /ˈtɪdlɪ-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋk/
• Hyphenation: tid‧dly‧wink

Etymology 1

Sense 1 (“unlicensed beerhouse or pawnshop”) and sense 2 (“alcoholic drink”) are possibly related to tiddly (“(noun) alcoholic beverage; (adjective) somewhat drunk”).^[1]

Noun

tiddlywink (plural tiddlywinks) (UK, archaic or obsolete)

1. (dialectal, slang) An unlicensed beerhouse or pawnshop.

   Synonym: kiddlywink

   Hyponym: leaving shop

2. (Cockney rhyming slang) An alcoholic drink.
3. (games) A game played using dominoes.

Etymology 2

The noun is possibly derived from tiddly (“(informal) little, tiny”) +‎ wink (“blinking of one eye”), perhaps borrowed from etymology 1.^[2] The game, now called tiddlywinks, was patented by a British bank clerk, Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900), on 19 October 1889,^[3] and the name Tiddledy-Winks trademarked by him the same year.^[4]

The verb is derived from the noun.

Noun

tiddlywink (plural tiddlywinks)

1. (tiddlywinks) A small disc used in the game of tiddlywinks; (by extension) a similar disc or counter used in other games.

   Synonym: wink

Translations

small disc used in the game of tiddlywinks; similar disc or counter used in other games

Polish: pchełka (pl) f

Verb

tiddlywink (third-person singular simple present tiddlywinks, present participle tiddlywinking, simple past and past participle tiddlywinked) (intransitive)

1. Especially of something disc-shaped: to flip over like a disc used in the game of tiddlywinks.
2. To play tiddlywinks.

Derived terms

• tiddlywinker
• tiddlywinking (adjective, noun)

References

1. “tiddlywink, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
2. Compare “tiddlywink, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
3. Joseph Assheton Fincher (filed 8 November 1888) Provisional Specification. A New and Improved Game (no. 16,215), London: […] [F]or Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, by Darling & Son, Ltd., published 1889, reproduced at “Tiddledy-Winks Patent: 1888, Joseph Assheton Fincher”, in Tiddlywinks.org‎, updated 8 February 2019, archived from the original on 24 February 2022.
4. “TIDDLEDY-WINKS”, in The Trade Marks Journal (no. 85,880), number 581, London: Patent Office, filed 29 January 1889, approved 15 May 1889, →OCLC, page 476.

Further reading

• tiddlywinks on Wikipedia.Wikipedia