tatter

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: tat=ter

CIDE DICTIONARY

tatter, n. 

 One who makes tatting.  Caulfield & S. (Doct. of Needlework).  [1913 Webster]

tatter, n. [Icel. tötur, töttur, pl. tötrar, öttrar; cf. Norw. totra, pl. totror, LG. taltern tatters. √240.].

 A rag, or a part torn and hanging; -- chiefly used in the plural.  [1913 Webster]
"Tear a passion to tatters, to very rags."  [1913 Webster]

tatter, v. t. 

 To rend or tear into rags; -- used chiefly in the past participle as an adjective.  [1913 Webster]
"Where waved the tattered ensigns of Ragfair."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tatter, n. (usu. in pl.) a rag; an irregularly torn piece of cloth or paper etc.

Idiom

in tatters colloq. (of a negotiation, argument, etc.) ruined, demolished.

Derivative

tattery adj.

Etymology

ME f. ON t{ouml}trar rags: cf. Icel. t{ouml}turr

THESAURUS

tatter

ablate, abrade, barrel, beeline, bit, bits, bullet, butt, chip, chunk, clip, clipping, collop, crumb, cut, cutting, destroyed, dollop, end, erode, fly, fragment, fray, frazzle, fret, gob, gobbet, haste, hasten, highball, hunk, in disarray, in ruins, in shreds, in tatters, lump, modicum, moiety, morceau, morsel, nip, paring, particle, patch, piece, pieces, rags, rasher, rocket, rub off, ruined, scoop, scrap, scraps, shard, shattered, shaving, shiver, shred, shreds, slice, sliver, smithereen, snack, snatch, snick, snip, snippet, splinter, stitch, stump, tag, tatters, wear, wear away, wear down, wear off, wear out, wear ragged, weather

ROGET THESAURUS

tatter

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.