slang. [f. tiddle, by-form of TITTLE v. to tickle.] A feather or feather-brush for tickling: a ‘teaser’ or ‘tormenter’; a tickler.
1900. Daily Chron., 21 May, 5 (Cass. Supp.). In Cheapside … you were titillated by ‘penny tiddlers.’ Anything, from a peacock’s feather downwards, which is a foot long, and tickles, is a ‘tiddler.’
a. 1904. E. Smith, MS. Coll. Warwicksh. Wds., s.v. (E.D.D.). At ‘mops’ and fairs in the Midlands the favourite tiddler … drawn rapidly down the back,… made a noise resembling that of the extinct ‘rattle’ of the policeman. Now the tiddler has degenerated into any light weapon of offence, which drawn across the face or neck, irritates the skin.
