waddle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to walk with short steps, swaying or rocking from side to side, as a duck.
-
to move in any similar, slow, rocking manner; wobble.
The ship waddled into port.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
- unwaddling adjective
- waddler noun
- waddling adjective
- waddlingly adverb
- waddly adjective
Etymology
Origin of waddle
1350–1400; Middle English; see wade, -le; compare German watteln
Explanation
A duck's walk is a waddle. To imitate it, turn your feet away from each other and take short clumsy steps that make you swing unsteadily from side to side. Ducks aren't the only animals known to waddle. Penguins with their little tiny feet may waddle along the ice, though they move gracefully through the water. If your footing is unsteady, you might waddle a little too as you tread carefully. Don't confuse waddle with wattle. A wattle is the red bit of flesh that hangs from the necks of turkeys and chickens. Wattles waddle back and forth as birds waddle along.
Vocabulary lists containing waddle
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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Hot to Trot: Animal Ambulation
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25 Ways of Walking
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It couldn’t waddle or sway without components from Chinese robot maker Unitree that power the motion of its neck and legs, according to a research paper by Disney.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Huntington Beach junior lifeguards volunteered at the event, according to a news release from the center, unzipping the cages on the beach to allow the birds to waddle out to shore.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2025
That part of the leg, they say, is where fibular reduction among some dinosaurs tens of millions of years ago helped make it possible for peacocks to strut, penguins to waddle, and turkeys to trot.
From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2024
There are also jobs for truffle hunters, "wine whisperers" and wombat walkers willing to take the marsupials "on their morning waddle".
From BBC • Jun. 19, 2024
I had this penguin that you wound up and it would waddle and flap its flippers.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
