doodle

¹

[dood-l]

verb (used with or without object)

doodled, doodling 

1. to draw or scribble idly.

   He doodled during the whole lecture.

2. to waste (time) in aimless or foolish activity.

3. Dialect.,  to deceive; cheat.

noun

1. a design, figure, or the like, made by idle scribbling.

2. Archaic.,  a foolish or silly person.

doodle

²

[dood-l]

noun

Chiefly North Midland U.S.

1. a small pile of hay; haystack.

doodle

/ ˈduːdəl /

verb

1. to scribble or draw aimlessly

2. to play or improvise idly

3. to dawdle or waste time

noun

1. a shape, picture, etc, drawn aimlessly

Other Word Forms

• doodler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of doodle¹

1625–30 in archaic sense “a fool”; 1935–40 in current senses; compare Low German dudeltopf simpleton

Origin of doodle²

Probably extracted from cock-a-doodle-doo ( def. ); a euphemism for cock ³, to avoid association with cock ¹, in sense “penis”

Word History and Origins

Origin of doodle¹

C20: perhaps from C17 doodle a foolish person, but influenced in meaning by _dawdle ; compare Low German dudeltopf simpleton

Example Sentences

All along he poured his inexhaustible love of tricky form into doodles he calls “ambigrams.”

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He had seen so many paintings of edelweiss, that cheerful white flower that dots the Alps each spring, that he sometimes found himself doodling pictures in the margins of his train tickets.

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For inspiration, she doodled in the margin of the page.

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Abel sat through it all, doodling in a notebook as if enduring a boring meeting.

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When Stringer sketched, he said, “it wasn’t just doodles. It was meticulously drawn. And his lines were perfect.”

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