dawdle

To dawdle is defined as to waste time or to move excessively slowly.

(verb)

When you lay around in your pajamas instead of getting dressed in the morning and then you take an hour to get dressed, this is an example of a time when you dawdle.

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See dawdle in Webster's New World College Dictionary

intransitive verb, transitive verb dawdled, dawdling

to waste (time) in trifling or by being slow; idle: often with away

Origin: < ? or akin to ME dadel(ing), chattering (of birds), dadelar, glib talker, prob. of echoic orig.

Related Forms:

See dawdle in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb daw·dled, daw·dling, daw·dles
verb, intransitive
  1. To take more time than necessary: dawdled through breakfast.
  2. To move aimlessly or lackadaisically: dawdling on the way to work.
verb, transitive
To waste (time) by idling: dawdling the hours away.

Origin:

Origin: Perhaps alteration of dialectal daddle, to diddle

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Related Forms:

  • dawˈdler noun
  • dawˈdling·ly adverb

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