ˈmerry-totter dial.
Also 8–9 -trotter.
[f. merry a. + totter n.]
A see-saw; a swing.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 338/2 Myry tottyr [v.r. miritotyr], chylderys game,..oscillum. 1483 Cath. Angl. 235/2 A Merytotyr, oscillum, petaurus. 1659 C. Hoole tr. Comenius' Orbis Sensualium (1672) 277 Boyes..tossing and swinging themselves upon a Merry-totter [L. super Petaurum]. 1790 Grose Provinc. Gloss., Merry-totter, a see-saw. 1862 ‘Tom Treddlehoyle’ Bairnsla Foaks Ann. 4 (E.D.D.) Merry-trotter. |