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Webster 1913 Edition
Noddy
Nod′dy
,Noun.
pl.
Noddies
(#)
. [Prob. fr.
nod
to incline the head, either as in assent, or from drowsiness.] 1.
A simpleton; a fool.
L’Estrange.
Syn. – tomnoddy.
2.
(Zool.)
(a)
Any tern of the genus
Anous
, as Anous stolidus
. (b)
The arctic fulmar (
Fulmarus glacialis
). Sometimes also applied to other sea birds. 3.
An old game at cards.
Halliwell.
4.
A small two-wheeled one-horse vehicle.
5.
An inverted pendulum consisting of a short vertical flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top; – used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.
Webster 1828 Edition
Noddy
NODDY
,Noun.
1.
A simpleton; a fool.2.
A fowl of the genus Sterna, very simple and easily taken.3.
A game at cards.Definition 2024
noddy
noddy
English
Noun
noddy (plural noddies)
- A stupid or silly person.
- Burton
- He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of L'Estrange to this entry?)
- Burton
Translations
Etymology 2
Noun
noddy (plural noddies)
- Any of several stout-bodied, gregarious terns of the genera Anous and Procelsterna, found in tropical seas.
- (dated) A small two-wheeled vehicle drawn by a single horse.
- An inverted pendulum consisting of a short vertical flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top; used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.
- (obsolete, uncountable) An old card game.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
A grey noddy
Derived terms
- brown noddy, Anous stolidus
- sooty noddy, Anous tenuirostris
- black noddy, Anous minutus
- blue noddy, Procelsterna cerulea
- grey noddy, Procelsterna albivitta
Translations
bird of the genus Anous or Procelsterna
Etymology 3
nod + -y, coined by John Fiske in 1987.
Noun
noddy (plural noddies)
- (television) A cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding, used to cover an editing gap in an interview.
- Noddies are often filmed after the interview in question has finished.
References
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967