Definition of Dawdle

1. Verb. Take one's time; proceed slowly.

Exact synonyms: Linger
Generic synonyms: Move
Derivative terms: Dawdler
Also: Linger Over
Antonyms: Rush

2. Verb. Waste time. "Get busy--don't dally!"
Exact synonyms: Dally
Generic synonyms: Act, Behave, Do
Derivative terms: Dalliance, Dallier, Dawdler, Dawdling

3. Verb. Hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc..
Exact synonyms: Fall Back, Fall Behind, Lag
Generic synonyms: Follow
Specialized synonyms: Drag, Drop Back, Drop Behind, Get Behind, Hang Back, Trail
Derivative terms: Dawdler, Lag, Laggard, Lagger

Definition of Dawdle

1. v. i. To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter.

2. v. t. To waste by trifling; as, to dawdle away a whole morning.

3. n. A dawdler.

Definition of Dawdle

1. Verb. (intransitive) To spend time idly and unfruitfully, to waste time. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To spend (time) without haste or purpose. ¹

3. Verb. (intransitive) To move or walk lackadaisically. ¹

4. Noun. A dawdler. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Dawdle

1. to waste time [v -DLED, -DLING, -DLES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dawdle

davit
davits
davreuxite
davy jones
davyne
davyum
daw
dawah
dawbries
dawbry
dawcock
dawcocks
dawd
dawded
dawding
dawdle (current term)
dawdled
dawdler
dawdlers
dawdles
dawdling
dawdlingly
dawds
dawed
dawen
dawghtor
dawgs
dawing
dawings
dawish

Literary usage of Dawdle

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Prose Writers of America: With a Survey of the Intellectual History by Rufus Wilmot Griswold (1856)
"Dawson dawdle forgets, too;—how complimentary it is to be told that ... Or else, Dawson dawdle did not know it was so late ; and yet Dawson might have been ..."

2. The Novelist's Magazine (1782)
"Here, dawdle, take that note.*—- Not I, Sir,—what d'ye mean?—What right have I to your notes.'—' Nay, but dawdle— come.' — 'By no means — it looks like the ..."

3. A Dictionary of English Etymology by Hensleigh Wedgwood, John Christopher Atkinson (1872)
"... to dawdle ; Da. drat, scrap, slop, little bit; ... to loiter, dawdle ; Du. treuzelen, to loiter, linger. Dread. ..."

4. Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle by Jane Welsh Carlyle (1883)
"I hasten over the cleverest descriptions of extraneous people and things, to find something 'all about' yourself 'all to myself.' But I must not dawdle. ..."

5. The Cheery Book by William Melville Kerr (1898)
"TODDLE AND dawdle. TODDLE and dawdle, two sweet little things— Are darling earth-angels without any wings ; You could not help loving the one nor the other, ..."

6. The Tomahawk: A Saturday Journal of Satire edited by Arthur William A'Beckett (1867)
"dawdle and Dangle over their coffee and cigars. DANGLE. ... Been to any of the theatres lately Î dawdle.—I hooked in at the Queen's the other night. ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Dawdle on Dictionary.com!Search for Dawdle on Thesaurus.com!Search for Dawdle on Google!Search for Dawdle on Wikipedia!

Search