different between dummy vs dottle

English

Alternative forms

• dumbie, dumby (rare)

Etymology

From dumb +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?mi/
• Rhymes: -?mi

Noun

dummy (plural dummies)

1. (dated) A silent person; a person who does not talk.

   Synonym: dumby

   Coordinate term: mute
2. An unintelligent person.

   Synonym: dumby

   Coordinate terms: half-wit, idiot

3. A figure of a person or animal used by a ventriloquist; a puppet.
4. Something constructed with the size and form of a human, to be used in place of a person.

   Synonyms: mannequin, marionette
5. A person who is the mere tool of another; a man of straw.
6. A deliberately nonfunctional device or tool used in place of a functional one.

7. (Australia, Britain, New Zealand) A "dummy teat"; a plastic or rubber teat used to soothe or comfort a baby; a pacifier. [from 20th c.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pacifier

   • 2006, Tizzie Hall, Save Our Sleep: A Parents? Guide Towards Happy, Sleeping Babies from Birth to Two Years, MacMillan 2009, page 200,

     Then on the fifth day, at the first sleep of the day, remove the dummy and follow my settling guide for your baby?s age. You should throw all her dummies in the bin to ensure you are not tempted to use them again – even outside sleep times.

   • 2011, Simone Cave, Caroline Fertleman, Baby to Toddler Month by Month, page 85,

     We?ve found that going cold turkey works best – you check that your baby isn't ill or teething, then throw all dummies away. When your baby cries for her dummy, you can look her in the eye and say, ‘It?s gone,’ and really mean it.

8. (card games, chiefly bridge) A player whose hand is shown and is to be played from by another player.
9. (linguistics) A word serving only to make a construction grammatical.

10. (programming) An unused parameter or value.

11. (sports, chiefly rugby, soccer) A feigned pass or kick or play in order to deceive an opponent.
12. (sports, Britain) A bodily gesture meant to fool an opposing player; a feint.

    Synonym: juke

Derived terms

• dummy bid
• dummy bidder
• sell the dummy

Related terms

• (silent person): dumb
• (unintelligent person): dumb

Translations

See also

(non-functional device):

• dud
• fake

(gesture meant to fool):

• feint

Further reading

• http://www.languagehat.com/archives/002594.php

Verb

dummy (third-person singular simple present dummies, present participle dummying, simple past and past participle dummied)

1. To make a mock-up or prototype version of something, without some or all off its intended functionality.

   The carpenters dummied some props for the rehearsals.

2. (sports) To feint.

   Synonym: juke

Adverb

dummy (comparative more dummy, superlative most dummy)

1. (slang) Extremely.

   It's dummy hot outside.

Derived terms

• dummy out
• dummy up

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?t?l/

Rhymes: -?t?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English dottel, dottelle (“a plug or tap of a vessel”), a diminutive of Old English dott (> English dot (“a point”)), equivalent to dot +? -le. Related to Old English dyttan (“to stop up, clot”), Dutch dot (“a knot, lump, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”). More at dit.

Alternative forms

• dottel

Noun

dottle (plural dottles)

1. A plug or tap of a vessel.
2. A small rounded lump or mass.
3. The still burning or wholly burnt tobacco plug in a pipe.
   • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine, Faber p. 96:

     one hand guards the burning dottle of my pipe from the force of the wind

   • 1981, John Gardner, Freddy's Book, Abacus 1982, p. 38:

     I clenched my pipe in my right fist and poked at the dottle busily with various fingers, first one then another, of my left hand.

   • 1984, Alan Dean Foster, The Hour of the Gate, page 89:

     He tapped out the dottle on the deck, locked the steering oar in position, and commenced repacking his pipe.
4. (Tyneside) A baby's dummy, pacifier.

Translations

References

• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4

Etymology 2

Related to dote, dotard.

Adjective

dottle (comparative more dottle, superlative most dottle)

1. (Scotland) Stupid or senile.
   • 1893: David Herschell Edwards, One Hundred Modern Scottish Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notices, volume 15, page 403

     When days and years proclaim you’re old?—
     ?A dottle, cripple, gouty fellow,
     Then for support you can lay hold
     ?O’ the upright of your umberella.

Noun

dottle (plural dottles)

1. (Scotland) A dotard.

Synonyms

• dodipole, dotel; see also Thesaurus:dotard

Anagrams

• Dettol, lotted, tolted