- dingbat
- noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1904 1. a typographical symbol or ornament (as •, ¶, or ✠) 2. nitwit, kook
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
dingbat
Look at other dictionaries:
dingbat — (n.) 1838, American English, some kind of alcoholic drink, of unknown origin. One of that class of words (e.g. dingus, doohickey, gadget, gizmo, thingumabob) which are conjured up to supply names for items whose proper names are unknown or not… … Etymology dictionary
dingbat — ☆ dingbat [diŋ′bat΄ ] n. [< DING, in obs. sense “to fling” + BAT1] 1. [Old Informal] a stone, stick, or other object suitable for throwing 2. Printing Informal any of various decorative marks, as at the beginning of a paragraph 3. Slang a… … English World dictionary
dingbat — 1. n. <a name for a gadget.> □ Isn’t there supposed to be a little red dingbat that goes in this hole? □ Is this the dingbat you mean? 2. n. a stupid person. □ Who is the dingbat with Bob? □ … Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions
Dingbat — This article is about the typesetter s ornament. For other uses, see Dingbat (disambiguation). Poem typeset with generous use of decorative dingbats around the edges 1880s. Dingbats are not part of the text. A dingbat is an ornament, character or … Wikipedia
Dingbat — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Un dingbat est un caractère typographique représentant un dessin. Un dingbat est un type de devinettes qui consiste à deviner un mot ou une expression… … Wikipédia en Français
dingbat — noun /ˈdɪŋˌbæt/ a) A silly or stupid person. The fire department is out here because some dingbat parked in the red zone. b) A special ornamental typographical symbol, such as a bullet, an … Wiktionary
dingbat — UK [ˈdɪŋˌbæt] / US noun [countable] Word forms dingbat : singular dingbat plural dingbats American offensive a stupid person … English dictionary
dingbat — /ˈdɪŋbæt / (say dingbat) noun 1. Colloquial an eccentric or peculiar person. 2. Printing any ornamental typographical symbol used for decoration, text division, etc. {originally US slang, of uncertain origin; the sense in def. 1 was popularised… …
Dingbat — fool; eccentric, peculiar person (from US slang; popularised in this sense by a cartoon strip The Dingbat Family begun by George Herriman in 1909; earlier meaning a stiff drink or a projectile for throwing ) … Dictionary of Australian slang
dingbat — Australian Slang fool; eccentric, peculiar person (from US slang; popularised in this sense by a cartoon strip The Dingbat Family begun by George Herriman in 1909; earlier meaning a stiff drink or a projectile for throwing ) … English dialects glossary
dingbat — n 1. an eccentric, crazy or foolish person. Originally this was an Australian word, probably derived from dingbats as an adjective (an embellishment of the collo quial bats ). The word is now popular in Britain and the USA. ► In fact, editing and … Contemporary slang
