TEETOTUM

top, whirligig, teetotum, spinning top

(noun) a conical child’s plaything tapering to a steel point on which it can be made to spin; “he got a bright red top and string for his birthday”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

teetotum (plural teetotums)

(historical) A toy (spinning top) similar to a dreidel.

Etymology 2

Noun

teetotum (plural teetotums)

(historical) A working men's club conducted under religious influences, as an alternative to drinking in the saloon.

Source: Wiktionary


Tee*to"tum, n. Etym: [For T-totum. It was used for playing games of chance, and was four-sided, one side having the letter T on it, standing for Latin totum all, meaning, take all that is staked, whence the name. The other three sides each had a letter indicating an English or Latin word; as P meaning put down, N nothing or L. nil, H half. See Total.]

Definition: A child's toy, somewhat resembling a top, and twirled by the fingers. The staggerings of the gentleman . . . were like those of a teetotum nearly spent. Dickens.

Tee-to"-tum, n. [Cf. Teetotaler.]

Definition: A workingmen's resort conducted under religious influences as a counteractant to the drinking saloon. [Colloq. or Cant]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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Coffee Trivia

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.

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