Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To take more time than necessary: dawdled through breakfast.
- v. To move aimlessly or lackadaisically: dawdling on the way to work.
- v. To waste (time) by idling: dawdling the hours away.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To idle; waste time; trifle; loiter.
- To waste by trifling: with away: as, to dawdle away a whole forenoon.
- n. A trifler; a dawdler.
Wiktionary
- v. To spend time idly and unfruitfully, to waste time.
- v. To spend time without haste or purpose.
- v. To move or walk lackadaisically.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter.
- v. To waste by trifling.
- n. A dawdler.
WordNet 3.0
- v. hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
- v. waste time
- v. take one's time; proceed slowly
Etymologies
- Perhaps alteration of dialectal daddle, to diddle.
Examples
“Recently, I made a little journal to try out what I thought would be the "dawdle" of bookbinding in danish: "bogbinderi" and have started filling it in.”
“Don't dawdle, because the Democrats will take up tax reform and have a range of good answers to choose from.”
“I pictured Liza practicing every possible pose a heroine could adopt in the romantic window seat, but there was no time for me to “dawdle” and try it out.”
Simon & Schuster: Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear
“One saving grace about Medicare: it generally pays promptly, while private insurers will dawdle for months in paying even a simple claim.”
“You will not make the connection, because we will probably dawdle and delay without warning or explanation.”
“We couldn't dawdle, though, as dark clouds were gathering, so we turned and stepped as fast we could down the mountain.”
The Huffington Post: Richard Bangs: Death Valley Daze, Part I
“Jean-Honoré Fragonard's "Rest on the Flight into Egypt," from circa 1750, at the Baltimore Museum of Art. (The Daily Pic will dawdle in its permanent collection for the rest of this week.)”
The Washington Post: Gopnik's Daily Pic: Fragonard's sacred heat
“Perhaps I will even dawdle a bit to read it again so it gives me that needed OOMPH to get moving.”
“You don't dawdle, you don't linger, you decide," he said.”
The Wall Street Journal: Political Performance Art Offers View of What GOP Will Be Missing
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dawdle’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Perambulatory
let's move
dawdle, hie, lollop, promenade, stroll, amble, mosey, gallivant, waddle, galumph, traipse, galumph and 3 more...
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Noodle and such
noodle, ladle, middle, model, muddle, addle, paddle, piddle, dreidel, toddle, poodle, streudel and 16 more...
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wile away
words for passing time
shilly-shally, procrastinate, dawdle, dilly-dally, wile, idle, loaf, loiter, idyll, putz, surf, trifle and 1 more...
sonofgroucho I must confess to a propensity to dawdle. Aug 7, 2007