dawdle
[ dawd-l ]
/ ˈdɔd l /
verb (used without object), daw·dled, daw·dling.
to waste time; idle; trifle; loiter: Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!
to move slowly, languidly, or dilatorily; saunter.
verb (used with object), daw·dled, daw·dling.
to waste (time) by or as if by trifling (usually followed by away): He dawdled away the whole morning.
Nearby words
davys, davys, john, daw, dawah, dawbake, dawdle, dawes, dawes act of 1887, dawes plan, dawes, charles gates, dawes, william
Origin of dawdle
First recorded in 1650–60; variant of daddle to toddle
SYNONYMS FOR dawdle
1, 2 See loiter.
3 fritter, putter, idle, trifle.
Related forms
daw·dler, noundaw·dling·ly, adverbDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for dawdler
But he knows that he is just a dawdler compared to Chomsky, the great big mindbender.
He had been called a dawdler and a trifler and a do-nothing.
Under Handicap|Jackson GregoryI am but a dawdler, a do-nothing, the butt and laughing-stock of all brave men.
Helmet of Navarre|Bertha RunkleAnd a weakling, a dawdler like himself, must reply to a hero like that!
The Torrent|Vicente Blasco Ibaez
British Dictionary definitions for dawdler
dawdle
/ (ˈdɔːdəl) /
verb
(intr) to be slow or lag behind
(when tr, often foll by away) to waste (time); trifle
Derived Forms
dawdler, noundawdlingly, adverbWord Origin for dawdle
C17: of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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