tiddlywinks
Syllables: tid·dly·winksUK/ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋks//ˈtɪdliˌwɪŋks/
tiddlywinks noun: a competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs (each called a tiddlywink or wink) as possible into a container (the pot) by pressing on their edges with a larger disc (a shooter or squidger), causing them to jump up from the surface on which they are placed. Also the plural of tiddlywink.
Noun
tiddlywinks pl (plural only)
- A competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs (each called a tiddlywink or wink) as possible into a container (the pot) by pressing on their edges with a larger disc (a shooter or squidger), causing them to jump up from the surface on which they are placed.
- Can any of your correspondents inform me what is the derivation of the word "kiddlewink," or "tiddledy winks"? A friend tells me in the Midland Counties it denotes a house where beer is sold without a licence. Lately a game has been introduced here bearing the name of "Tiddledywinks."[1890 January 18, M. D., “Queries. [Kiddlewink.]”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume IX (7th Series), number 212, London: Published...
- Recreation rooms were provided for both boys and girl, and the long winter evenings were anything but dreary, for when school was done and work over the children gathered in the brilliantly lit, hot-pipe-heated rooms and played draughts, bagatelle, lotto, or tiddly-winks.1894 August, Henrietta O[ctavia] Barnett, “The Home or the Barrack for the Children of the State”, in The Contemporary Review, volume LXVI, London: Isbister and Company […], →OCLC, page 246
- Synonyms:
- winks
- Especially in the form to play tiddlywinks: a meaningless or unimportant activity.
Also used as
tiddlywinks is also the plural of tiddlywink.
tiddlywinks is also the third-person singular simple present indicative of tiddlywink.
Synonyms of tiddlywinks
Forms of tiddlywinks
| alternative form | Tiddledy-Winks |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Tiddley Winks |
| alternative form | tiddleywinks |
| alternative form | tidley winks |
Origin of tiddlywinks
From tiddlywink + -s, possibly from tiddly (“(informal) little, tiny”) + wink (“blinking of one eye”), perhaps borrowed from tiddlywink, etymology 1 (“unlicensed beerhouse or pawnshop; game played using dominoes”, etc.). The game was patented by a British bank clerk, Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900), on 19 October 1889, and the name Tiddledy-Winks trademarked by him the same year. Tiddlywinks is the preferred modern spelling; the earliest known use of this spelling dates from 1894.
Questions about tiddlywinks
- What does tiddlywinks mean?
- Tiddlywinks means a competitive game in which the objective is to flick as many small discs (each called a tiddlywink or wink) as possible into a container (the pot) by pressing on their edges with a larger disc (a shooter or squidger), causing them to jump up from the surface on which they are placed.
- What part of speech is tiddlywinks?
- Tiddlywinks is a noun.
- How do you pronounce tiddlywinks?
- Tiddlywinks is pronounced /ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋks/ (UK).
Words near tiddlywinks in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tiddlywinks (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-us-tiddlywinks.ogg.
Cite this entry: “tiddlywinks.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tiddlywinks. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.