Etymology From Middle English dottel, dottelle (“a plug or tap of a vessel”), a diminutive of Old English dott (> English dot (“a point”)), equivalent to dot + -le. Related to Old English dyttan (“to stop up, clot”), Dutch dot (“a knot, lump, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”). More at dit.
1
A plug or tap of a vessel.
2
A small rounded lump or mass.
3
The still burning or wholly burnt tobacco plug in a pipe.
1892, Richard Oliver Heslop, Northumberland Words. English Dialect Society - Kegan Paul et al. In refilling a pipe, where twist is smoked, a common practice is to save the dottle and put it on the top of the new-filled pipe. "Aw like a baccy dottle to leet wiv."
one hand guards the burning dottle of my pipe from the force of the wind1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine, Faber, page 96:
3 more examples
I clenched my pipe in my right fist and poked at the dottle busily with various fingers, first one then another, of my left hand.1981, John Gardner, Freddy's Book, Abacus, published 1982, page 38:
He tapped out the dottle on the deck, locked the steering oar in position, and commenced repacking his pipe.1984, Alan Dean Foster, The Hour of the Gate, page 89:
I fiddle and scrape and poke for a while, banging out the dottle from my previous pipeful into an ashtray and puffing down the stem like a horn player warming up his trumpet.2010, Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles:
Etymology From Middle English dottel, dottelle (“a plug or tap of a vessel”), a diminutive of Old English dott (> English dot (“a point”)), equivalent to dot + -le. Related to Old English dyttan (“to stop up, clot”), Dutch dot (“a knot, lump, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”). More at dit.
When days and years proclaim you’re old — A dottle, cripple, gouty fellow, Then for support you can lay hold O’ the upright of your umberella.1893, David Herschell Edwards, One Hundred Modern Scottish Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notices, volume 15, page 403: