Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small or worthless amount.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US slang nothing; nothing whatsoever.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small worthless amount

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of diddlyshit (influenced by doodly-squat) : diddly (probably from diddle) + shit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang suggests that this is a derivation of doodly-squat from 1934.

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Examples

Comments

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  • A particularly frivolous exercise technique.

    December 11, 2008