Dottle

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈdÉ’tÉ™l/

Alternative forms

• dottel

Origin

From Middle English dottel, dottelle ("a plug or tap of a vessel"), a diminutive of Old English dott (>

English dot ("a point")), equivalent to dot + -le. Related to Old English dyttan ("to stop up, clot"), Dutch dot ("a knot, lump, clod"), Low German Dutte ("a plug"). More at dit.

Full definition of dottle

Noun

1. A plug or tap of a vessel.
2. A small rounded lump or mass.
3. The still burning or wholly burnt tobacco plug in a pipe.
• 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine, Faber p. 96:one hand guards the burning dottle of my pipe from the force of the wind
• 1981, John Gardner, Freddy's Book, Abacus 1982, p. 38:I clenched my pipe in my right fist and poked at the dottle busily with various fingers, first one then another, of my left hand.
• 1984, Alan Dean Foster, , page 89:He tapped out the dottle on the deck, locked the steering oar in position, and commenced repacking his pipe.
• 2010, Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles:I fiddle and scrape and poke for a while, banging out the dottle from my previous pipeful into an ashtray and puffing down the stem like a horn player warming up his trumpet.
4. (Geordie) A baby's dummy, pacifier.