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pindling

1 American  
[pind-ling] / ˈpɪnd lɪŋ /

adjective

Older Use.
  1. puny; sickly; frail; weak.


Pindling 2 American  
[pind-ling] / ˈpɪnd lɪŋ /

noun

  1. Lynden Oscar Father of the Bahamas, 1930–2000, Bahamian political leader: first prime minister 1967–92.


pindling British  
/ ˈpɪndlɪŋ /

adjective

  1. peevish or fractious

  2. sickly or puny

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pindling

1860–65, pine 2 + -ling 1, on the model of dwindling

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“You’re mighty pindling to be carrying it. Watch you don’t spill it.”

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

There is a child, though, Jane they call her, a pindling little thing.

From Up the Hill and Over by Mackay, Isabel Ecclestone

Always after Ellen's mother had said to her father that she thought Ellen looked pindling he was late about coming home from the shop, and would turn in at the gate laden with paper parcels.

From The Portion of Labor by Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins

Seaton thought maybe somewhere in that pindling carcass of yours there was the making of a he man and that you'd like the experience.

From The Enchanted Canyon by Morrow, Honoré

He was only a pindling critter when he pipped the shell, an’ the vi-cis-si-tudes that bird’s been through since he fust scratched would ha’ made a human lay right down and die.

From The Corner House Girls Under Canvas How they reached Pleasant Cove and what happened afterward by Hill, Grace Brooks