▪ I. teeny, a.1 Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈtiːnɪ)
[f. teen n.1]
Characterized by ‘teen’; malicious; peevish.
| 1594 Carew Tasso (1881) 102 [He] growes so teasty, that by teeny spight, Past reasons bounds he is transported quite. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 342 A..teeny, mischievous, good for nothin'. 1847–78 Halliwell, Teeny..(2) Fretful; peevish; fractious. Lanc. |
▪ II. ˈteeny, a.2 dial. and colloq.
An emphasized form of tiny; orig. in childish use. Also as n. and in comb. teeny-tiny, teeny-weeny.
| 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 342 A leetle—teeny, mischievous, good for nothin'. 1847–78 Halliwell, Teeny. (1) Tiny; very small. North. 1867 New Comical Nursery Rhymes 157 With a teeny⁓tiny thump It broke her teeny nose. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms li, All the small, teeny bits of a man's life. 1889 ‘Lewis Carroll’ Sylvie & Bruno xvii, Such delicious tiny music it was! Such teeny-tiny music! 1894 Baring-Gould Queen of L. I. 32, I am a teeny-weeny mite. 1905 E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 85 He did look such a teeny shrimp, climbing after me! 1929 [see Kerry 2]. 1931 Daily Express 1 Sept. 5/1 But never cold ham and tongue for the tiny ‘teenies’. 1931 E. V. Lucas Visibility Good 18 Model tea-sets, and all the other teeny weenies. 1948 [see bird-brain s.v. bird n. 9]. 1953 [see fly-whisk s.v. fly n.1 11]. 1957 [see itsy-bitsy a.]. 1966 [see brandade]. 1970 Oxf. Mail 27 Jan. 1/9 Today at Courreges in Paris we had teenie-weenie nappies knotted loosely on the loins. 1982 New Yorker 17 May 34/1 Their [videodisc] system has a teeny laser beam instead of a needle to get the images onto the TV screen. |
▪ III. teeny, n. colloq.
(ˈtiːnɪ)
Also teeney.
[f. as, or abbrev. of, teeny-bopper but infl. by teeny a.2]
A young teenager or pre-teenager, esp. one who is a fan of pop music; a teeny-bopper.
| 1969 Oz Apr. 40/1 A good part of that audience was composed of teeneys, nine to twelve year olds. 1976 N.Y. Times 29 July 26 He's [sc. 16-year-old Prince Andrew] the biggest thing for teenies since Bjorn Borg. 1977 Daily Mirror 21 Mar. 13/3 Teenies find hot line to hope... In 1976 at least 8,000 new callers were under fifteen. |