dawdle

daw·dle (dôd′'l)

intransitive verb, transitive verb -·dled, -·dling

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

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

daw′·dler noun

loaf, idle, lounge; see loiter. See syn. study at loiter.

Object

bit: I take the back road along the canal back to my office and I admit I dawdled a bit as it was so lovely.

Preposition: on

way: Sometimes this is due to pupils socializing and dawdling on the way to school which is an issue for us to deal with.

Modifying Another Word

n't: As long as you're sensible and cautious you shouldn't get robbed; just do n't dawdle when you take your nightly strolls.
not: Had they not been late for work... Had they not stopped to buy a paper... Had they not dawdled... Near misses.
about: I could dawdle about in the nursery and count the apricots on the wall.

Followed by an intransitive particle

along: So what if they dawdle along at 28 in a 30?
over: We dawdled over to the landing stage on the west side of the island for lunch.

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