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View synonyms for dawdle

dawdle

[ dawd-l ]

verb (used without object)

, daw·dled, daw·dling.
  1. to waste time; idle; trifle; loiter:

    Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!

  2. to move slowly, languidly, or dilatorily; saunter.


verb (used with object)

, daw·dled, daw·dling.
  1. to waste (time) by or as if by trifling (usually followed by away ):

    He dawdled away the whole morning.

    Synonyms: trifle, idle, putter, fritter

dawdle

/ ˈdɔːdəl /

verb

  1. intr to be slow or lag behind
  2. whentr, often foll by away to waste (time); trifle
“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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Derived Forms

  • ˈdawdlingly, adverb
  • ˈdawdler, noun
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Other Words From

  • dawdler noun
  • dawdling·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dawdle1

First recorded in 1650–60; variant of daddle “to toddle”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dawdle1

C17: of uncertain origin
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Synonym Study

See loiter.
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Example Sentences

She has set a six-minute daily time limit as a reminder not to dawdle on Instagram.

While these cities dawdle, the region’s residents suffer the effects of the housing shortage: high rents, overcrowding, eviction and homelessness.

The confidence of the Russian military reflected the Kremlin’s knowledge that Ukraine’s ammunition supplies were dwindling as the U.S. dawdled over approving more military aid.

Not yet knowing what I was in for, though, I dawdled, thinking the journey too far and impractical, until I finally relented about 20 hours before totality over Idaho.

Students dawdled in their first period classes with cameras off, waiting for teachers who had not been able to log in.

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