dandle

American  

[dan-dl] / ˈdæn dl /

verb (used with object)

dandled, dandling

1. to move (a baby, child, etc.) lightly up and down, as on one's knee or in one's arms.

2. to pet; pamper.

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dandle British  

/ ˈdændəl /

verb

1. to move (a young child, etc) up and down (on the knee or in the arms)

2. to pet; fondle

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Other Word Forms

• dandler noun
• undandled adjective

Etymology

Origin of dandle

First recorded in 1520–30; origin uncertain; perhaps akin to Italian dandola, dondola “a child's doll” and its derivative verb dandolare, dondolare “to rock, swing, dangle,” and akin to French dandiner “to swing back and forth, dandle” and se dandiner “to make a hip movement, sway the hips, gyrate, waddle”

Example Sentences

Angie dandled our infant daughter off to the side of the kitchen while we pretended to cook something for the camera.

From The Guardian

The day after the election, Taaz Robinson, a fellow third-year, posted a picture on Buckingham’s Facebook page of Trump as an infant being dandled by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

From Washington Post

With the exception of the lovely bride, you were the belle of the ball — handed from aspiring grandmother to aspiring grandmother, chin-chucked, dandled, cooed over, cuddled.

From Salon

As he weighs which candidate is more deserving of being harmed, it’s as if Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator is dandling an inflatable globe on his knee.

From Washington Post

But here, a young Donald J. Trump may have played with a ball on the flagstone walkway, or been dandled on a knee on the brick front steps.

From New York Times