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Webster 1913 Edition


Noddy

Nod′dy

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Noddies
(#)
.
[Prob. fr.
nod
to incline the head, either as in assent, or from drowsiness.]
1.
A simpleton; a fool.
L’Estrange.

Syn. – tomnoddy.
2.
(Zool.)
(a)
Any tern of the genus
Anous
, as
Anous stolidus
.
(b)
The arctic fulmar (
Fulmarus glacialis
). Sometimes also applied to other sea birds.
3.
An old game at cards.
Halliwell.
4.
A small two-wheeled one-horse vehicle.
5.
An inverted pendulum consisting of a short vertical flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top; – used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.

Webster 1828 Edition


Noddy

NODDY

,
Noun.
1.
A simpleton; a fool.
2.
A fowl of the genus Sterna, very simple and easily taken.
3.
A game at cards.

Definition 2024


noddy

noddy

English

Noun

noddy (plural noddies)

  1. A stupid or silly person.
    • Burton
      He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of L'Estrange to this entry?)
Translations

Etymology 2

nod + -y?

Noun

noddy (plural noddies)

  1. Any of several stout-bodied, gregarious terns of the genera Anous and Procelsterna, found in tropical seas.
  2. (dated) A small two-wheeled vehicle drawn by a single horse.
  3. An inverted pendulum consisting of a short vertical flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top; used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.
  4. (obsolete, uncountable) An old card game.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
A grey noddy
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

nod + -y, coined by John Fiske in 1987.

Noun

noddy (plural noddies)

  1. (television) A cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding, used to cover an editing gap in an interview.
    Noddies are often filmed after the interview in question has finished.

References

  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967