Footling
/ˈfuːt.lɪŋ/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A fetus oriented so that, at birth, its foot or feet will emerge first. A type of breech birth.
"In 1999 my fourth child (third daughter) made an unexpected footling breech presentation."
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of footle form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
- 1 trivial, silly and irritating.
"He was explaining to her things about the air service. . . . "Isn't it rather dangerous work?" she asked. She felt it was a footling question even as she asked it."
Adjective
- 1 (informal) small and of little importance wordnet
Example
More examples"He was explaining to her things about the air service. . . . "Isn't it rather dangerous work?" she asked. She felt it was a footling question even as she asked it."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From footle + -ing.
Etymology 2
From foot + -ling.