fettle
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L320563 on Wikidata ↗verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L331704 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈfɛtl̩/
noun
Etymology: From Late Middle English fetlen (“(verb) to bestow; to fix, prepare, put in place; to prepare (oneself) for battle, gird up; to shape; to be about to, or to ready (oneself) to stay; (adjective) shaped (well or poorly)”) [and other forms], which possibly: * from Old English fetel (“belt, girdle, fettle”), from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz, further etymology unknown; or * from Old English fetian (“to fetch”), from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”). Compare Old English ġefetelsod (“provided with a belt; trimmed, polished, ornamented”).
- A state of physical condition; kilter or trim.
“These strong 2-8-2s […] appeared in good fettle, especially those shedded at Lublin and several arrivals and departures were photographed in the fine evening light.”
- One's mental state; spirits.
- Sand used to line a furnace.
- A seam line left by the meeting of mould pieces.
- The act of fettling.
- A person's mood or state, often assuming the worst.
“What’s yer fettle marra?”
verb
Etymology: From Late Middle English fetlen (“(verb) to bestow; to fix, prepare, put in place; to prepare (oneself) for battle, gird up; to shape; to be about to, or to ready (oneself) to stay; (adjective) shaped (well or poorly)”) [and other forms], which possibly: * from Old English fetel (“belt, girdle, fettle”), from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz, further etymology unknown; or * from Old English fetian (“to fetch”), from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”). Compare Old English ġefetelsod (“provided with a belt; trimmed, polished, ornamented”).
- To sort out, to fix, to mend, to repair.
“He is getting his saddle altered: fettling about this and that; does not consider what danger he is in.”
“For some time after the train had gone Oscar stood on the track conversing with members of the fettling gang […]”
- To make preparations; to put things in order; to do trifling business.
“Nor list he now go whistling to the car, But sells his team , and fettleth to the war”
- To line the hearth of a furnace with sand prior to pouring molten metal.
- To be upset or in a bad mood.
“Divint fettle yersel ower that!”
- To remove (as by sanding) the seam lines left by the meeting of two molds.
- To machine away seam lines or more generally to make small adjustments to a component or machine to improve its fit or operation.
“He wants to fettle his gearchange mechanism before the next competition.”
- To prepare.
“But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next...”