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Synonyms

woolgathering

American  
[wool-gath-er-ing] / ˈwʊlˌgæð ər ɪŋ /

noun

  1. indulgence in idle fancies and in daydreaming; absentmindedness.

    His woolgathering was a handicap in school.

  2. gathering gather of the tufts of wool shed by sheep and caught on bushes.

woolgathering British  
/ ˈwʊlˌɡæðərɪŋ /

noun

  1. idle or absent-minded indulgence in fantasy; daydreaming

"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

Other Word Forms

  • woolgatherer noun

Etymology

Origin of woolgathering

First recorded in 1545–55; wool + gathering

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.

But such are the longueurs of this would-be slam-bang blockbuster directed by Robert Schwentke, that it sure does inspire woolgathering.

From New York Times • Jul. 22, 2021

I listened to their woolgathering for a while, and then some artillery rumbled in the distance.

From New York Times • Oct. 29, 2014

Most people spend between 30 and 47 percent of their waking hours spacing out, drifting off, lost in thought, woolgathering, in a brown study or building castles in the air.

From Scientific American • Aug. 22, 2014

The son of Rumanian immigrants, he was a shy, woolgathering boy who finished Samuel J. Tilden High School with a so-so 82% academic average.

From Time Magazine Archive

The train lurched over a patch of rough tracks, jarring me out of my woolgathering.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.