dingle

See also: Dingle

English

WOTD – 25 August 2006

Etymology 1

From Middle English dingle (“a deep hollow; dell”), from Old English *dyngel, a diminutive of Old English dung (“dungeon; pit”), equivalent to dung +‎ -le (diminutive suffix). Compare Saterland Frisian Dongel (“hollow tooth, cavity”), English dimble (“a dingle, glen, retired place”).

Related to dungeon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪŋɡl̩/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəl

Noun

dingle (plural dingles)

1. A small, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley.
   • 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, “Chapter 4”, in The Two Towers, Book III:

     Turning to the left and skirting this huge hedge Treebeard came in a few strides to a narrow entrance. Through it a worn path passed and dived suddenly down a long steep slope. The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rim with the high dark evergreen hedge.

Translations

small, narrow or enclosed, usually wooded valley

• Bulgarian: дол (bg) m (dol)
• German: Waldschlucht (de) f
• Irish: fothair f
• Italian: anfratto (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dol (ku) f, newal (ku) f, nihal (ku) f, gelî (ku) m

• Russian: глубо́кая лощи́на f (glubókaja loščína), лощи́на (ru) f (loščína)
• Welsh: glyn (cy) m

Etymology 2

Adjective

dingle (comparative more dingle, superlative most dingle)

1. (Antarctica, slang) Having good weather.

   Antonyms: mank, manky

   • 1978, Anthony Smith, Wilderness, page 40:

     Antarctica can be dingle, with clear skies, or mank, with nothing of the sort.

   • 1989, Nautical Quarterly, volume 45, page 24:

     Indeed, on a dingle day in the Antarctic your optimism soars about what you can do. After three days of blustery weather we woke up to […]

   • 2004, John Kelly, Due South: An Antarctic Journal, page 53:

     On this 'dingle' day the last breezes of summer blow from the south. Sitting at Garnet Hill I am blinded by the sunlight on the ice.

See also

• dingle-dangle (etymologically unrelated)
• dingle stick

Anagrams

• elding, engild, gilden, ingled

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Related to dangle and denge

Verb

dingle (imperative dingl or dingle, present tense dingler, passive dingles, simple past and past participle dingla or dinglet, present participle dinglende)

1. to dangle, hang, swing

References

• “dingle” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• dingla

Etymology

Delated to dangle and denge

Verb

dingle (present tense dinglar, past tense dingla, past participle dingla, passive infinitive dinglast, present participle dinglande, imperative dingle/dingl)

1. to dangle, hang, swing

References

• “dingle” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.