▪ I. tiddle, v. Obs. exc. dial. or slang.
(ˈtɪd(ə)l)
Also 7–9 tittle.
[In sense 1 perh. connected with tid a. The two senses may be distinct words.]
1. trans. To fondle or indulge to excess; to pet, pamper; to tend carefully, nurse, cherish.
| 1560 Nice Wanton in Hazl. Dodsley II. 173 My parents did tiddle me: they were to blame. 1653 Verney Memoirs (1894) III. 203 To midwife it out, and to tittle it up and to bring it with you in your coach. 1730–6 Bailey (folio), To Tiddle, to indulge, or fondle, to make much of. 1755 Johnson, Tiddle, v.a. (from Tid), to use tenderly; to fondle. 1839 [Sir G. C. Lewis] Herefordsh. Gloss. (E.D.D.). 1881 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Tiddle, to nurse and nurture tenderly. 1893 S.E. Worc. Gloss. s.v., You may tiddle a monkey 'till 'e befouls your trenchud. |
2. a. intr. To potter, trifle, ‘fiddle’; to fidget, fuss.
| 1747 Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. xlii. 322 To leave the family pictures..to you, because you could tiddle about them, and..wipe and clean them with your dainty hands! 1839 Holloway Dict. Prov. s.v., ‘Tiddling about’ is being busy about trifles. 1904 Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Tittle, (Cumbld.) I could par' [pare] the fut with a buttress while another is tittlin' over it with a draw-knife. |
b. To move potteringly.
| 1881 W. D. Howells Modern Instance (1882) I. x. 173 Mr. Macallister, a slight little straight man..tiddled farcically forward on his toes. 1970 Times 6 July 6/8 You can't just tiddle up to the town hall to see the man. |
Hence ˈtiddling ppl. a., that ‘tiddles’; overindulgent; ˈtiddlingly adv., indulgently.
| 1580 Lupton Sivqila 37 The most of our youth..are so tydlingly, fondly, wantonly, and idlely brought up, that it is a griefe to the godlye. |
▪ II. tiddle, v.2 colloq.
(ˈtɪd(ə)l)
[Euphem. alteration of piddle v.; cf. tinkle v.1 6 and widdle v.3]
intr. To make water, to urinate.
| 1858 W. T. Spurdens R. Forby's Vocab. E. Anglia Suppl. III. 52 Tiddle, v. mingere, de infantibus. 1905 Eng. Dial. Dict. VI. 137/1 Tiddle,..to urinate, used principally among children. 1978 ‘J. Lymington’ Waking of Stone iv. 79 He tiddled in the stream, right in front of me! 1985 Washington Post 23 June 3 Another informant who used the euphemism ‘tiddles’ for urinating was confused to discover that Tiddles was the name of his aunt's cat. |
▪ III. tiddle
dial. form of tittle v. to tickle.