titter
UK /ˈtɪtə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈtɪtɚ/ verb, noun
Forms titters tittering tittered
- verb To laugh or giggle in a somewhat subdued or restrained way, as from nervousness or poorly-suppressed amusement.
- verb (obsolete) To teeter; to seesaw.
- noun A nervous or somewhat repressed giggle.
- noun (slang, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
- noun (slang, obsolete) A girl or young woman.
Synonyms
Etymology
First attested in the 1610s. Probably from Middle English *titeren, *titren (attested in Middle English titering (“hesitation, vacillation”)), probably a frequentative of Middle English titten (“to waver”), ultimately of imitative origin. Related to Old Norse titra (“to shake, shiver, quiver”) (if not borrowed from it), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to snicker”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *titrōną (“to tremble”).
From tit + -er.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To laugh with the tongue striking against the root of the upper teeth; to laugh with restraint, or without much noise; to giggle.
- noun A restrained laugh. "There was a titter of . . . delight on his countenance." Coleridge.
- verb To seesaw. See Teeter.
Etymology [Probably of imitative origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “titter”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details