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fid

English

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fid¹

  • /fɪd/

Rhymes with -ɪd

Where it comes from

Origin unknown. Possibly from Old Irish fid

noun fids

  1. A pointed tool without any sharp edges, used in weaving or knotwork to tighten and form up weaves or complex knots; used in sailing ships to open the strands of a rope before splicing.
  2. A square bar of wood or iron, with a shoulder at one end, to support the weight of the topmast (on a ship).
  3. A plug of oakum for the vent of a gun.
  4. A small thick piece of anything. Four — dreadfully unclad — men, carefully oiled, to protect their skin against the great heat, are moving about with long iron spoons, stirring here and mixing there, or kneading into little fids various compounds of coarse sugar and rancid butter […]
  5. A wooden or metal bar or pin, used to support or steady anything.
  6. slang The penis.

verb fids · fidding · fidded

  1. To support a topmast using a fid.

Fid²

Where it comes from

From FIDS (“Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey”), a former name of the British Antarctic Survey.

noun Fids

  1. slang A British worker with the British Antarctic Survey. The British use the term “fidlets”, a diminutive of “Fid”, which in turn is an acronym for Falkland Island Dependencies, the former name of the British Antarctic Survey.

Fid³

Where it comes from

From fid due to its shape.

proper noun the Fid

  1. A mountain peak in Graham Land, Antarctica.

FID⁴

noun FIDs

  1. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of functional iron deficiency

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Cite this
MLA

"fid." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fid. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

fid. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fid

Chicago

"fid." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fid.

BibTeX
@misc{fid_2026,
  title = {fid},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fid},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}