collywobbles

noun, plural in form but singular or plural in construction

col·ly·wob·bles | \ ˈkä-lē-ˌwä-bəlz

How to pronounce collywobbles (audio)

\

Definition of collywobbles

: bellyache

Did You Know?

We don't know who first clutched his or her tummy and called the affliction "collywobbles," but we do know the word's earliest print appearance dates from around 1823. We also know that the word probably came about through a process called "folk etymology." In that process, unusual words are transformed to make them look or sound like other, more familiar words. Collywobbles is believed to be a friendlier-sounding transformation of cholera morbus (the New Latin term for the disease cholera) that was influenced by the words colic and wobble.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about collywobbles

Listen to Our Podcast about collywobbles

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near collywobbles

Statistics for collywobbles

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for collywobbles

The first known use of collywobbles was circa 1823

See more words from the same year

Comments on collywobbles

What made you want to look up collywobbles? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

apposite

highly pertinent or appropriate

Test Your Vocabulary

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which came first?

snarky sarcastic

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ