What does tedder mean?
A tedder is an agricultural implement used to spread cut hay or straw from a swath. By turning and scattering the material, it exposes more of the crop to air and sunlight, helping it dry before baling or harvesting. The word can also denote a person whose task was to perform that work, a sense now chiefly historical or dialectal. In modern agricultural contexts, “tedder” usually names the machine, often a rotary or power-driven unit attached to a tractor. Because it is a specialized farm term rather than part of ordinary household vocabulary, its meaning is best understood through the process of haymaking. Knowing the word nevertheless clarifies a distinct stage of that process: not cutting, gathering, or baling, but actively turning and dispersing the crop so that it cures evenly. A tedder is also a useful example of English agent-noun formation, since the same ending can identify both the tool and the worker.
nounA tedder is a machine used to spread and turn cut hay or straw from a swath so that it dries evenly. The word can also denote a person whose work was to spread or turn the material.
- An agricultural machine that spreads and turns cut hay or straw so that it dries evenly.
- A person employed to spread or turn cut hay or straw, now chiefly a historical or dialectal sense.
"The rotary tedder scattered the cut grass into broad, airy rows for drying."
"The tractor pulled a rotary tedder through the field after the mower had cut the grass."
"Her grandfather began work as a tedder, spreading the hay by hand before mechanical tedders became common."
The plural is used when referring to multiple machines or workers.
"The old tedders were replaced by powered hay spreaders."
Before modern balers, the tedder performed the indispensable job of turning a neat swath of hay into loose, airy rows.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tedder come from?
Tedder was formed in English by adding the agent or instrument suffix -er to ted, an agricultural word for spreading or turning cut hay or straw. The development reflects a productive English pattern in which an agent suffix can denote either the person performing an action or the machine used to perform it. The deeper prehistory of ted is not securely established.
Related word forms
How tedder is actually used
This is specialized agricultural vocabulary rather than general-purpose English. The machine is the usual modern referent; the occupational sense is chiefly historical or dialectal.
Easily confused with tedder
A tiller lifts cut hay from the ground, whereas a tedder spreads and turns it to promote even drying.