dingbat
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɪŋbæt/
Forms: form: dingbats
Etymology: Unknown, US mid 19th century. The word-puzzle sense comes from the board game Dingbats, which is based on these puzzles.
Senses: examples: text: 'Midge was such a dingbat', Jenny Fields wrote in her autobiography, 'that she went to Hawaii for a vacation during World War Two.'
ref: 1978, John Irving, chapter 2, in World according to Garp:
text: I hung around the older crews while they sling smack to dingbats
ref: 1994, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:
text: The fire department is out here because some dingbat parked in the red zone.
ref: 2003, The Gilmore Girls, season 4, episode 7 (television production):
synonyms: dingus
glosses: A silly, crazy or stupid person.
examples: text: "The compulsive editor, when checking the specs on an article, can't help checking also for such items as initial capital and closing dingbat, if they are used routinely. These decorative items have a way of being forgotten..."
ref: 1982, The Elements of Editing: A Modern Guide for Editors and Journalists, Arthur Plotnik, p.8
topics: media
publishing
typography
glosses: A special ornamental typographical symbol, such as a bullet, an arrow, a pointing hand etc.
topics: architecture
glosses: An architectural style of apartment building, where the second storey overhangs an area for parking cars.
examples: text: This can be a dingbat, anagram, word puzzle, riddle or other quick warm-up activity and demonstrates to your students that when they come into your lessons, you get them thinking right away.
ref: 2015, Georgia Holleran, Ian Gilbert, A Teacher’s Companion to Essential Motivation in the Classroom:
text: A dingbat is a kind of picture puzzle. Each picture represents a word, phrase or name, and the picture can often be supplemented with a couple of letters to assist in the guessing.
ref: 2016, Stephen Scoffham, Teaching Geography Creatively, page 17:
synonyms: rebus
glosses: A kind of word puzzle involving pictures or typography that hint at the solution.
glosses: Anything that can be thrown or swung with force against something else.
synonyms: word: dingus
word: thingamabob
word: doohickey
word: Sorted by number of Google hits
word: widget
word: hickey
word: gizmo
word: thingy
word: gimmick
word: thingie
word: jigger
word: gismo
word: gubbins
word: whatsit
word: thingamajig
word: doodad
word: whatchamacallit
word: doohickey
word: thingo
word: thingamabob
word: thingummy
word: whatsis
word: thingumajig
word: thingumabob
word: whatchacallit
word: Sorted alphabetically
word: affair
word: bazinga
word: bizzo
word: dealie
word: dealy
word: dinglehopper
word: dingus
word: dohickey
word: dojigger
word: dongle
word: doo-hickey
word: doober
word: doodah
word: doofer
word: doohickus
word: doohinkey
word: doohinkus
word: doojigger
word: doovalacky
word: foobar
word: foo
word: frammis
word: frobnitz
word: gadget
word: geegaw
word: gewgaw
word: gingambob
word: gingumbob
word: hodad
word: hootenanny
word: jawn
word: jimbang
word: jobber
word: jobby
word: joint
word: junk
word: kajigger
word: kludge
word: MacGuffin
word: oojamaflip
word: rigamajig
word: shebang
word: stuff
word: thingabob
word: thingamabobber
word: thingamafuck
word: thingamajigger
word: thingamajiggy
word: thingmabob
word: thingmajig
word: thingmy
word: thingummabob
word: thingummajig
word: thingummyjig
word: thingum
word: thingymabob
word: thingymajig
word: thing
word: ting
word: whachacallit
word: whachamacallit
word: whaddayacallit
word: whatchamahoozie
word: whatdyecallem
word: whatdoyoucallit
word: whatnot
word: whatsaname
word: whatsitsname
word: whiff-whaff
word: whosiewhatsit
word: whosit
word: wossisname
word: wossname
word: wotsit
word: yoke
word: yokibus
glosses: A small device or gadget, the correct term for which is forgotten or unknown.
Derived terms: dingbatter
dingbattery
dingbatty
Webdings
Wingdings
Related terms: dingwad
ding
fleuron
wingding