fid
/fɪd/
fid noun: a pointed tool without any sharp edges, used in weaving or knotwork to tighten and form up weaves or complex knots; used in sailing ships to open the strands of a rope before splicing.
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Noun (1)
fid (plural fids)
- A pointed tool without any sharp edges, used in weaving or knotwork to tighten and form up weaves or complex knots; used in sailing ships to open the strands of a rope before splicing.
- A square bar of wood or iron, with a shoulder at one end, to support the weight of the topmast (on a ship).
- A plug of oakum for the vent of a gun.
- A small thick piece of anything.
- Four — dreadfully unclad — men, carefully oiled, to protect their skin against the great heat, are moving about with long iron spoons, stirring here and mixing there, or kneading into little fids various compounds of coarse sugar and rancid butter […]1872, The Eclectic Magazine: Foreign Literature
- A wooden or metal bar or pin, used to support or steady anything.
- The penis.
Verb
fid (third-person singular simple present fids, present participle fidding, simple past and past participle fidded)
- To support a topmast using a fid.
Noun (2) capitalized: Fid
Fid (plural Fids)
- A British worker with the British Antarctic Survey.
- The British use the term “fidlets”, a diminutive of “Fid”, which in turn is an acronym for Falkland Island Dependencies, the former name of the British Antarctic Survey.2024 June 20, Eva Corlett, “Fidlets, fingies and riding a doo: study sheds light on Antarctic English slang”, in The Guardian
Proper noun capitalized: Fid
the Fid
- A mountain peak in Graham Land, Antarctica.
Noun (3) capitalized: FID
FID (countable and uncountable, plural FIDs)
- Initialism of functional iron deficiency.
Forms of fid
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | fids |
| plural | Fids |
| plural | FIDs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | fids |
| present participle | fidding |
| past participle | fidded |
| past | fidded |
Origin of fid
Origin unknown. Possibly from Old Irish fid
From FIDS (“Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey”), a former name of the British Antarctic Survey.
From fid due to its shape.
Words formed from fid
Words that rhyme with fid
Questions about fid
- What does fid mean?
- Fid means a pointed tool without any sharp edges, used in weaving or knotwork to tighten and form up weaves or complex knots; used in sailing ships to open the strands of a rope before splicing.
- What part of speech is fid?
- Fid can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce fid?
- Fid is pronounced /fɪd/.
- What is the plural of fid?
- The plural of fid is fids.
Words near fid in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fid (page history and authors); Fid (page history and authors); FID (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-fid.ogg.
Cite this entry: “fid.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.