dawdle
verb (used without object)
to waste time; idle; trifle; loiter.
dawdles
-
present tense formof dawdle (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
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.
If Minnesota dawdles, it “will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year,” the CMS head said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
It is the role of prosecutors to vindicate that interest by initiating judicial action when a defendant dawdles.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2024
And yet, he almost takes pride in his ability to put things off, saying he dawdles on an “Olympic level.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
Weyman’s cloak-and-rapier swashbuckler is long — over 400 pages in my edition — but its action never dawdles.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2021
There had been under Moddle's system no dawdles at shop-windows and no nudges, in Oxford Street, of "I say, look at 'er!"
From What Maisie Knew by Henry James
