Word: noddy Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From nod (“to incline the head up and down; to gradually fall asleep”) + -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns or familiar names; and meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Noun etymology 2 sense 1 (“tern of the genus Anous”) possibly refers to the nodding behaviour of the birds during courtship. Etymology 2 sense 3 (“fellatio”) refers to the nodding motion of the head of a person performing the sex act. Etymology 2 sense 5 (“cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding”) was coined by the English cultural theorist and media scholar John Fiske (1939–2021) in 1987. Etymology 2 sense 6.2 (“state of being asleep”) is possibly a pun on etymology 1, noun sense 2.2.1 (“sexual intercourse”). Pronunciation: /ˈnɒdi/, /ˈnɑdi/, [-ɾi] 1. Any of several stout-bodied, gregarious terns of the genus Anous found in tropical seas, especially the brown noddy or common noddy (Anous stolidus). Example: VVe savv no Land this Day, but ſavv a great many Snakes and ſome VVhales. VVe ſavv alſo ſome Boobies, and Noddy-birds; and in the Night caught one of theſe laſt. […] The Top or Crovvn of the Head of this Noddy was Coal-black, having alſo ſmall black Streaks round about and cloſe to the Eyes; and round theſe Streaks on each ſide, a pretty broad vvhite Circle. The Breaſt, Belly, and under part of the VVings of this Noddy vvere vvhite: And the Back and upper part of its VVings of a faint black or ſmoak Colour. Example: The Rocks and outer Lines of the Iſland, are the Haunts of variety of Sea-Birds, eſpecially Boobies and Noddies; […] The Noddies are ſmaller and flat footed alſo. 2. A small two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse. Labels: Ireland, Scotland, historical Example: [S]he has brought over a nevv language vvith her. […] VVhy a new kind of a London Engliſh, that's no more like our Iriſh Engliſh, than a coxcomb's fine gilded chariot like a Glaſſmanogue [i.e., Phibsborough, Dublin] noddy. Example: "By Jove, I think one of us must go into town.[…]" / "Let's see Nutter—you or I must go—we'll take one of these songster's "noddies."["] [A "noddy," give me leave to remark, was the one-horse hack vehicle of Dublin and the country round, which has since given place to the jaunting car, which is, in turn, half superseded by the cab.] 3. Synonym of fellatio. Labels: Multicultural-London-English, slang Example: Bakin' off of this light skin hottie / Sweet ting, arch ya up and give noddy 4. Synonym of northern fulmar (“an Arctic seabird, Fulmarus glacialis”). Labels: Newfoundland, Northeastern, US 5. A cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding at the person being interviewed (or sometimes the interviewee nodding at the interviewer), often used to cover an editing gap in an interview. Labels: UK, informal Example: Noddies are often filmed after the interview in question has finished. 6. In clockmaking and watchmaking: an inverted pendulum consisting of a short, vertical, flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top, which is used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached. Labels: obsolete Example: The elegant inverted Pendulum or Noddy contrived by the late Mr Hardy, suggested to me a different arrangement. […] It is evident that, by adjusting the stiffness of the wire, or the height of the ball C, we may alter to any extent the relation of the forces of Elasticity and of Gravity, and consequently render the equilibrium of the machine in a vertical position stable, indifferent, or unstable. 7. In at noddy: a state of being asleep. Labels: obsolete, rare Example: In Paternoſter-rovv, vve found a fellovv at nodie upon a ſtall, vvith his Lanthorn and Candle by him, having firſt ſeized on that, and throvvn it into the Kennel, vve proſecuted our abuſe by falling upon him, and beating him. […] [T]o our coſt, vve found him as nimble and as light footed as a Stag, vvho overtaking us, ſurprized us; and as he vvas carrying us before the Conſtable, vve met vvith the grand Round, vvho, vvithout as much examination, committed us as Rates to the Counter.