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Synonyms

tootle

American  
[toot-l] / ˈtut l /

verb (used without object)

tootled, tootling

  1. to toot gently or repeatedly on a flute or the like.

  2. to move or proceed in a leisurely way.

noun

  1. the sound made by tooting on a flute or the like.

tootle 1 British  
/ ˈtuːtəl /

verb

  1. to toot or hoot softly or repeatedly

    the flute tootled quietly
"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

noun

  1. a soft hoot or series of hoots

"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
tootle 2 British  
/ ˈtuːtəl /

verb

  1. (intr) to go, esp by car

"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

noun

  1. a drive, esp a short pleasure trip

"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

  • tootler noun

Etymology

Origin of tootle

First recorded in 1810–20; toot 1 + -le

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.

Most of the time, you will just tootle around town with it, doing really simple things.

From The Verge • Dec. 19, 2018

Seinfeld asks comedian Brian Regan, one of his guests, as the two tootle around Los Angeles in a sporty 2006 Cadillac XLR and eventually stop for the requisite cup of coffee.

From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2018

As a native Chicagoan who has watched the Rams tootle around UC Irvine in their golf carts, I have to wonder what Dick Butkus would say if he saw them.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2017

"We're happy to tootle along in a two-litre diesel in a Formula 1 race."

From BBC • Aug. 29, 2014

During the night, some of the locomotives began to tootle to one another, and then to move.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

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.