tiddlywinks

Meaning

Noun

1. (also, attributive, plural, 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.
2. (figuratively, plural, plural-only) Especially in the form to play tiddlywinks: a meaningless or unimportant activity.

Verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of tiddlywink

tiddlywink

• Noun
• Verb

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Synonyms

marbles

Translations

Flohhüpfspiel

Flohspiel

jeu de puce

vlooienspel

juego de la pulga

jôgo da pulga

giuoco della pulce

la pulga

jogo da pulga

gioco della pulce

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋks/

Etymology

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.