dottle
/ˈdɒtəl/
"dottle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dottle” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A plug or tap of a vessel.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dottle · dottle · English
dottle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dottle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɒtəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dottle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dottle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɒtəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for dottle in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dottel, dottelle (“a plug or tap of a vessel”), a diminutive of Old English dott (> English dot (“a point”)), equivalent to dot + -le. Related to Old English dyttan (“to stop up, clot”), Dutch dot (“a knot, lump, clod”), Low German Dutte… The correct English form is dottle, spelled D-O-T-T-L-E.
Definition
- 1A plug or tap of a vessel.
- 2A small rounded lump or mass.
- 3The still burning or wholly burnt tobacco plug in a pipe.
- 4A baby's dummy, pacifier.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dottle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1892, Richard Oliver Heslop, Northumberland Words. English Dialect Society - Kegan Paul et al. In refilling a pipe, where twist is smoked, a common practice is to save the dottle and put it on the top of the new-filled pipe. "Aw like a baccy dottle to leet wiv."
one hand guards the burning dottle of my pipe from the force of the wind
Etymology
From Middle English dottel, dottelle (“a plug or tap of a vessel”), a diminutive of Old English dott (> English dot (“a point”)), equivalent to dot + -le. Related to Old English dyttan (“to stop up, clot”), Dutch dot (“a knot, lump, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”). More at dit.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.