cootie catcher

noun

plural cootie catchers

: a child's toy that consists of paper folded into four pyramid-shaped parts that are manipulated by the fingers to open and close with each part having a flap that can be unfolded to reveal an answer to one's question about the future : fortune teller

Mark Buck erects a giant array of the little folded-paper fortune-telling games that children call cootie-catchers …—

Michael Scott

And if you've ever made a cootie catcher, you know that origami has the power to unlock worlds of unparalleled fun.—

Tucson (Arizona) Weekly

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of cootie catcher was in 1971

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Cootie catcher.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cootie%20catcher. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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