kittly-benders

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   thin ice that bends under a person's weight

   The children tested the kittly-benders at the pond's edge before the deep freeze.

2. 2
   noun

   the risky sport or act of running over thin, bending ice

   Their elders warned them to stop playing at kittly-benders before someone broke through.

A plural-only regional term formed from kittly, probably related to kittle, 'ticklish, tricky, or uncertain,' and the plural of bender. It names either thin ice that bends underfoot or the hazardous act of running across it; Thoreau uses it figuratively for proceeding without a firm foundation.

Topics

External links

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