tatter

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A torn, hanging piece of cloth or paper.

   After years of use, the old flag hung in tatters.

2. 2
   verb

   To become or make something torn and ragged.

   The wind had tattered the sails by the end of the storm.

From Middle English tater, from Old Norse tǫturr, from Proto-Germanic *tat(t)uraz (“tuft, patch”). Cognate with Icelandic tötur (“rag, tatter”).

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