lickspittle

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WOTD - 10 October 2009    

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Etymology

A compounding: lick (“pass one’s tongue over”) + spittle (“saliva”); the verb may derive by back-formation from the nominal derivation lickspittling (see below).[1]

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

lickspittle (plural lickspittles)

  1. A fawning toady; a base sycophant.[1]
  2. (by extension) The practice of giving empty flattery for personal gain.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

fawning toady
practice of giving empty flattery

[edit] Verb

lickspittle (third-person singular simple present lickspittles, present participle lickspittling, simple past and past participle lickspittled)

  1. (transitive)[1] Play the toady to (someone); take the rôle of a lickspittle to please (someone).[1]

[edit] Translations

a fawning toady

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 “ˈlick-spittle” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “lick, v.” and “spittle, n.²” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
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