Meanings
present singular third person tidders · participle present tiddering · participle past tiddered · past tiddered
- dialectalTo treat with tenderness; fondle
Their doings now were jubilational— What quiet folks would call sensational. Their goodies they unpack excitedly, Their Common Grandsire greet delightedly, With gentle, sympathetic tiddering. When from his tree-top he called diddering, All "gramps," Wag said, are worth considering.
1916 July, Rose O'Neill, “The Kewpies and their Fairy Cousin”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 63, number 1, page 88
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*tūdrijaz“brittle; weak; exhausted”
- Proto-Germanic*tūdrijaną“to become brittle or weak; exhaust”
- Old Englishtīdrian
- Middle Englishtidren
- Englishtidder
From Middle English tidren, from Old English tīdrian, tȳdrian (“to become weak or infirm; be frail”), from Proto-Germanic *tūdrijaną (“to become brittle or weak; exhaust”), from Proto-Germanic *tūdrijaz (“brittle; weak; exhausted”), equivalent to Old English tid + -er. Related to Old English tiddre, tyddre, tēdre, tīdre, tȳdre (“weak; fragile”), West Frisian tear (“tender; gentle”), Dutch teder (“tender; fond; gentle; loving”), German Low German teder (“fine; delicate; sensitive; tender; weak”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tidder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tidder
“tidder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tidder. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tidder,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tidder.
Source: tidder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.