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Dawdle
Definitions
- 1 An act of spending time idly and unfruitfully; a dawdling.
- 2 Alternative spelling of doddle (“a job, task, or other activity that is easy to complete or simple”). alt-of, alternative
"He was a QC from Edinburgh, wearing the black jacket and pinstripe trousers of his trade, as if straight from court, and probably persuaded to come in the belief that if you could interest the Budhill and Springboig party in the repressive Gaullist policies in Algeria then becoming Solicitor-General was a dawdle."
- 3 An act of moving or walking lackadaisically, a dawdling; a leisurely or slow walk or other journey.
"For many the journey home from school was not a walk but a ‘dawdle’: it was an everyday experience that added meaning to their lives."
- 4 Synonym of dawdler (“a person who dawdles or idles”).
"Lord, I have ſuch a deal to do, I ſhall ſcarce have time to ſlip on my Italian luteſting.—VVhere is this davvdle of a houſekeeper?"
- 1 Chiefly followed by away: to spend (time) without haste or purpose. transitive
"to dawdle away the whole morning"
- 2 hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc. wordnet
- 3 To spend time idly and unfruitfully; to waste time. intransitive
"Tell him, if he'll call on me, and davvdle over a diſh of tea in an afternoon, I ſhall take it kind."
- 4 waste time wordnet
- 5 To move or walk lackadaisically. intransitive
"If you dawdle on your daily walk, you won’t get as much exercise."
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- 6 take one's time; proceed slowly wordnet
Etymology
The verb is possibly: * a variant of daddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk or work slowly, dawdle, saunter, trifle”) or doddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk feebly or slowly, dawdle, idle, saunter, stroll”), possibly influenced by daw (“(Britain, dialectal) lazy, good-for-nothing person, sluggard”); or * borrowed from Middle Low German dȫdelen (“to dawdle”), related to Saterland Frisian döädelje (“to dawdle”); compare also German daddeln (“to play”), German verdaddeln (“to waste (time), neglect, ruin”). All of these words are assumed to be of imitative origin. The noun is derived from the verb.
The verb is possibly: * a variant of daddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk or work slowly, dawdle, saunter, trifle”) or doddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk feebly or slowly, dawdle, idle, saunter, stroll”), possibly influenced by daw (“(Britain, dialectal) lazy, good-for-nothing person, sluggard”); or * borrowed from Middle Low German dȫdelen (“to dawdle”), related to Saterland Frisian döädelje (“to dawdle”); compare also German daddeln (“to play”), German verdaddeln (“to waste (time), neglect, ruin”). All of these words are assumed to be of imitative origin. The noun is derived from the verb.
A variant of doddle.
See also for "dawdle"
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