Meanings
dingle1
plural dingles
- A small, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley.
1 more example
Turning to the left and skirting this huge hedge Treebeard came in a few strides to a narrow entrance. Through it a worn path passed and dived suddenly down a long steep slope. The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rim with the high dark evergreen hedge.
1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, “Chapter 4”, in The Two Towers, Book III
dingle2
comparative more dingle · superlative most dingle
- slangAntarcticaHaving good weather.
Antarctica can be dingle, with clear skies, or mank, with nothing of the sort.
1978, Anthony Smith, Wilderness, page 402 more examples
Indeed, on a dingle day in the Antarctic your optimism soars about what you can do. After three days of blustery weather we woke up to […]
1989, Nautical Quarterly, volume 45, page 24On this 'dingle' day the last breezes of summer blow from the south. Sitting at Garnet Hill I am blinded by the sunlight on the ice.
2004, John Kelly, Due South: An Antarctic Journal, page 53
Dingle3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone from Barnsley
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
dingle · noun
- Old Englishdung“dungeon; pit”
- Old English*dyngel
- Middle Englishdingle“a deep hollow; dell”
- Englishdingle
From Middle English dingle (“a deep hollow; dell”), from Old English *dyngel, a diminutive of Old English dung (“dungeon; pit”), equivalent to dung + -le (diminutive suffix). Compare Saterland Frisian Dongel (“hollow tooth, cavity”), English dimble (“a dingle, glen, retired place”). Related to dungeon.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Dingle · proper noun, noun
- IrishAn Daingean
- EnglishDingle
From Irish An Daingean, Daingean Uí Chúi (“fort of Ó Cúis”), from daingean (“fortress”).
More words from Irish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian дол
- дол (dol)small, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
German Waldschlucht
- Waldschluchtsmall, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
Irish fothair, an Daingean
- fothairsmall, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
- an Daingeantown in County Kerry
- Daingean Uí Chúistown in County Kerry
Italian anfratto
- anfrattosmall, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
Russian глубо́кая лощи́на, лощи́на
- глубо́кая лощи́на (glubókaja loščína)small, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
- лощи́на (loščína)small, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
Welsh glyn
- glynsmall, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dingle
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dingle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dingle
“dingle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dingle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dingle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dingle.
Source: dingle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.