dreidel

Edit

Pronunciations

dreidel (DREY-del) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. "A small, four-sided spinning top used in a game during Chanukah" (JPS); the top itself.

Example Sentences

  • "On Chanukah we eat latkes and play dreidel."

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • דרײדל dreydl (the root דרײ drey means 'spin')

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      dreydl, draidel, draidle

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.