doodle

¹ American  

[dood-l] / ˈdud l /

noun

Chiefly North Midland U.S.

1. a small pile of hay; haystack.

---

doodle ² American  

[dood-l] / ˈdud 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 British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of doodle¹

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

Origin of doodle¹

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

Example Sentences

From the moment she could pick up a pen, she was doodling over everything possible - from school textbooks to spare scraps of paper.

From BBC

He shared memories of doodling on his pants, rap battling in the courtyard and skating down El Segundo Boulevard with dreams of being famous.

From Los Angeles Times

This downturn has impacted his grades, competitive swimming status and overall focus; he obsessively doodles eerie clusters of spiders and draws a disturbing map of his school’s floor plan.

From Los Angeles Times

She looks up from doodling a sea turtle on her folder and her smile freezes.

From Literature

Meyer began doodling designs for a boxing game that could be played at home.

From The Wall Street Journal