Nod″dy (?), n.; pl.Noddies (#). [Prob. fr. nod to incline the head, either as in assent, or from drowsiness.] 1. A simpleton; a fool. L'Estrange.
2. (Zoöl.) (a) Any tern of the genus Anous, as A. stolidus. (b) The arctic fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis). Sometimes also applied to other sea birds.
3. An old game at cards. Halliwell.
4. A small two-wheeled one-horse vehicle.
5. An inverted pendulum consisting of a short vertical flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top; — used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.