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dither

verb
/ˈdɪðə/UK/ˈdɪðɚ/US

Etymology

Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”). Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.

  1. inherited from *titrōną✻
  2. inherited from dideren — “to tremble”

Definitions

  1. To tremble, shake, or shiver.

    • Presently he came running out of the scullery, with the soapy water dripping from him, dithering with cold.

  2. To be uncertain or unable to make a decision

    To be uncertain or unable to make a decision; to vacillate, hesitate, or delay.

    • 2012, The Economist, Sept. 22nd issue, "Indian Reform: At Last" The dithering Mr Singh of recent times may worry that his reform proposals are already too bold. The reforming Mr Singh of yore would see them as just the start.

  3. To do something nervously.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization

      To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization:

      • Look at how pixelly this wall texture is. You almost don't even notice the dithering when driving by quick. Up close though, it's real chunky.

    2. Trembling, shaking, or shivering.

    3. A state of nervous excitement.

      • Everyone was in a dither; either in it or about to get in it or just climbing out of it. Naturally, the Madam was not in a dither. Dither was a foreign concept to her.

    4. The state of being undecided

      The state of being undecided; indecision; vacillation.

    5. Any algorithm applied to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization

      Any algorithm applied to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization:

The neighborhood

Derived

adither, ditherer, dithering, ditheringly, dithery, nondithering, dither fish, in a dither

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dither. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA