footle

[ foot-l ]

verb (used without object),foot·led, foot·ling.
  1. to act or talk in a foolish or silly way.

Origin of footle

1
First recorded in 1890–95; origin uncertain; cf. footy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use footle in a sentence

  • She had got into the good graces of Footles as if she had known him all her life.

    Bud | Neil Munro
  • Footles, snug in the child's lap, shared the biscuits and barked for more.

    Bud | Neil Munro
  • I think, Mr. Footles, you were half a bar behind in taking up your point.

  • "She prayed for her father and mother," whispered Bell, with Footles in her arms, as they stood beside the bed.

    Bud | Neil Munro
  • Later Footles hurled himself in fury from the doorway, his master close behind him.

    Bud | Neil Munro

British Dictionary definitions for footle

footle

/ (ˈfuːtəl) informal /


verb(intr)
  1. (often foll by around or about) to loiter aimlessly; potter

  2. to talk nonsense

noun
  1. rare foolishness

Origin of footle

1
C19: probably from French foutre to copulate with, from Latin futuere

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