rumpty

Interjection

1. A nonsense word, especially in simple or childish songs.
   • I sang it through, "Rumpty tumpty toddy man," as Grandpa thumped his blackthorn stick against the floor and everyone laughed.2009, Patricia Reilly Giff, “chapter 6”, in Nory Ryan's Song
   • […] he heard a distant sound, or song, behind him. "Rumpty didily dum. Rumpty dididly doo. Rumpty doo doo dumpty didily rumpty didily dum."2010, Dawn Dalglish, Jacob's World, page 127

Adjective

rumpty (comparative more rumpty, superlative most rumpty)

1. (New Zealand) Of a quality below standard; in a state of disrepair.
   • I lived in a fringe of the city, down Happy Valley Road, in a bit of a rumpty palace of a house banged together by some DIY no-hoper.2000, Nigel Cox, Skylark Lounge, page 12

   Synonyms:

   dilapidated, run down

Noun capitalized: Rumpty

Rumpty (plural Rumpties)

1. (historical, informal) A Farman airplane.
   • In his initial assignment to Training Squadron No. 4 of the Royal Flying Corps, Field began his flying in the Maurice Farman "Shorthorn" trainer, sometimes called a Rumpty. […]2007, Jack S. Ballard, War Bird Ace: The Great War Exploits of Capt. Field E. Kindley, page 23
   • To do him justice, there were a few wires which he did not loosen in climbing into the cockpit, but then the machine, a Henri Farman (or Rumpty as they were commonly known), was at all times hard to get into.2009, Ira Jones, King of Airfighters: The Biography of Major Mick Mannock, page 42