Word: tweedle Part of Speech: verb Etymology: said to be imitative, probably influenced by wheedle. Compare teedle, toodle, twiddle Pronunciation: /ˈtwiːdəl/ 1. To handle lightly; said with reference to awkward playing on a fiddle. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: “Neaw, owd lad,” said he, as he screwed, first one peg, then another, and tweedled over little fits of wailing prelude, to get the tones he wanted. Example: Hark, —his tortured catgut squals He tickles every string, to every note He bends his pliant neck.—The fond yielding Maid Is tweedled into Love. 2. To influence as if by fiddling; to coax; to allure. Labels: broadly, obsolete, transitive Example: A fiddler brought in with him a body of lusty young fellows, whom he had tweedled into the service. Example: But I tweedled him into letting you try, and here you are, a real member of the company. 3. To twiddle. Example: As it was, he tweedled the letter about in his hands for about five minutes, in a musing mood, and then stepped with it into Mr. Gammon's room. Example: Bob Pirgivie now tweedled his thumbs in double quick time, and rapidly sent around queer horizontal glances under his shaggy brows. 4. To sell fake jewellery as genuine. Labels: UK, slang Example: I am afraid that the knowing author of the “cracking a-crib” book would be flummoxed by tweedling. Example: Girls, smokes, bit of smack, mossing, tweedling; a very democratic villain, Mr Salvatore. 5. To make a shrill or trilling sound Example: Yesterday I dined at the Percivals, and tweedled away upon a lovely harpsichord, and I was not bid to “mind my time.” Example: Something tweedled, and Temple jumped. Every new car had its own literal bells and whistles that told you to take the key out of the ignition, or put your seat belt on, or to turn off your headlights. 6. To say in a high-pitched voice. Example: Hurt that the Churts and I were exchanging fatuities over yet another second-rate painting instead of tweedling appreciatively over the extraordinary and beautiful child she was rocking on the other side of the room? Example: "Oh, bien sur. Monsieur Raphael has only the kindest things to say," Azter tweedled. “Always.” 7. To trifle or play. Example: That exemption was not intended to be a hair splitting elusive hope to be tweedled away by administrative interpretation. Example: Intellectual tweedling is not within my character. 8. To go; to proceed without much enthusiasm. Example: You all have undoubtedly noticed men in the rural pursuits tweedling along through life and finally end it all identical with what it was when they began: no better, no worse. Example: moving slowly but moving nonetheless; and close enough that if I quit and he kept tweedling along, he would finish with more miles than I and I'd be even more depressed long after I stopped shivering. He did keep tweedling along, but so did I. 9. To move or speak in unison (like Tweedledum and Tweedledee) Example: "I shall feel myself a failure as a chaperone surely," remarked Mrs.Green. "We think you a tremendous success," tweedled the twins. Example: “Why, they're tweedling now, " said little Frankie and sure enough they were, and tweedling in perfect unison too, without any expression whatsoever.“