loll
Americanverb (used without object)
-
lolls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lolled,
past participle, past
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lolling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
lolls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lolled,
past participle, past
-
lolling
present participle
noun
-
the act of lolling.
-
a person or thing that lolls.
verb
-
(intr) to lie, lean, or lounge in a lazy or relaxed manner
-
to hang or allow to hang loosely
noun
Synonym Usage
See lounge.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lollsimple
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lollssimple
-
have lolledperfect
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has lolledperfect
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am lollingprogressive
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are lollingprogressive
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is lollingprogressive
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have been lollingperfect progressive
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has been lollingperfect progressive
Past
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lolledsimple
-
had lolledperfect
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was lollingprogressive
-
were lollingprogressive
-
had been lollingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of loll
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English lollen, lullen (perhaps imitative); compare Middle Dutch lollen “doze, sit near a fire”
Explanation
To loll means to hang around lazily without doing much at all. It's a great pleasure to loll about in the park instead of going to work. But your boss might have a problem with it. Loll means to droop, or hang loosely. We usually use it to describe the behavior of hanging loosely, like lolling about on the beach reading a book. Sometimes it’s the perfect word for a drooping object. If you take your dog for a long run in the hot sun, its tongue will loll out of its mouth. If you fall asleep on the bus ride home, your head might loll onto your neighbor’s shoulder.
Vocabulary lists containing loll
The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer
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List 8
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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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.
See Examples For:
The world’s tiniest monkeys, called pygmy marmosets, scamper over branches, and the world’s largest rodents, capybaras, loll along riverbanks.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2023
Members paced back and forth in the chamber, some letting their heads loll back over their chairs.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2023
My sisters and I would loll on a cot under its shade, immobilized by the sticky heat and mesmerizing terror as wasps floated among the leaves like drunken marionettes, sipping on overripe fruit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2022
"There's a scene with Eagly sticking his face out the window of a car and letting us tongue loll," said Baker.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2022
As if time had slowed down as it does for the dying, I watched him loll his weight forward, sliding into an easy lope, head tilted, coming toward me in a casual arc.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
The painting portrays a moment in an ancient Cretan myth recounted in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”: Zeus descends to Earth, transforms himself into a white bull and lolls among the herds belonging to the Phoenician king.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Her head nods and lolls about, but she’s otherwise motionless.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
The plant fans and the history fans leaned in to admire the perennials and centuries-old trees on the lawns where Commander the dog lolls and Marine One the helicopter lands.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
The dog’s snout lolls in the woman’s open palm.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2022
The great head lolls around and looks at me as it rises on a swell.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
"I hope one day there will be a cinema, so I can go to the cinema and eat popcorn," said 13-year-old Mohammad Zidan as other children lolled in the sand, giggling at the cartoon.
From Reuters ● Aug. 16, 2023
The bike’s rear tire whirred in place, kicking up water and mud while the sidecar — a hospital bed on wheels, under a white canvas canopy — lolled dangerously.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
“There’s no real formula or that much thought given to it,” the performer said during a freewheeling Zoom chat from his Los Angeles home as his boxer, Gracie, lolled nearby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2021
"He opened his mouth, lolled his tongue, and with child-like abandon licked an imaginary cone, his diamond pinky ring sparkling in the bar lights," Kucinich writes.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2021
In front next to the driver slumped a desperately ill-looking man whose head lolled strangely on the seat back.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
TOPANGA, Calif.— L.A.’s newest celebrity enjoys strolling the Malibu coast, dining on sushi, and lolling about the backyards of the rich and famous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Indeed, perked up ears with a tongue lolling does not read as scared so much as “squirrel!”
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2025
That seesawing piano riff on the soundtrack could be rain droplets or an improvisatory theme for a couple lolling around an open-air market trying on sunglasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2024
Let us recall that many Americans have opted for the proverbial staycation — dutifully staying at home during their time off and lolling in the backyard rather than at a fancy resort or theme park.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 30, 2023
Clare realized he was panting, his tongue practically lolling out of his mouth.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
