noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A toy (spinning top) similar to a dreidel. historical

   "The town awakes; the great tee-totum is set up for its daily spin and whirl; […]"

2. 2
   A working men's club conducted under religious influences, as an alternative to drinking in the saloon. historical
3. 3
   a conical child's plaything tapering to a steel point on which it can be made to spin wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

ballbatbattledorebaubleblockcheckerboard

Example

More examples

""Are you a child or a teetotum?" asked the sheep."

Etymology

From Latin totum (“all”), marked by a T on one of the four sides.

Related phrases

spinning top

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.