dawdle
to waste time; idle; trifle; loiter: Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!
to move slowly, languidly, or dilatorily; saunter.
to waste (time) by or as if by trifling (usually followed by away): He dawdled away the whole morning.
Origin of dawdle
1synonym study For dawdle
Other words for dawdle
Other words from dawdle
- dawdler, noun
- daw·dling·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dawdle in a sentence
He had no desire to overtake this man although he knew him well, and dawdled until he saw him enter a cabinet-maker's shop.
The Light That Lures | Percy BrebnerIt was a fine March day, with a bright sun and a cold east wind—not high enough to be unpleasant though, unless you dawdled about.
Dr. Jolliffe's Boys | Lewis HoughA week ago she would have been content to have dawdled away the afternoon in the grounds of the villa.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo | E. Phillips OppenheimHe had said he would, but had dawdled skillfully and was still unfitly in bare feet and the shabby garments of a weekday.
The Wrong Twin | Harry Leon WilsonThe whole of one day we dawdled over the Great Karroo in pelting rain and mist, which reminded one of Scotland.
South African Memories | Lady Sarah Wilson
British Dictionary definitions for dawdle
/ (ˈdɔːdəl) /
(intr) to be slow or lag behind
(when tr, often foll by away) to waste (time); trifle
Origin of dawdle
1Derived forms of dawdle
- dawdler, noun
- dawdlingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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