Dawdle
['dɔːd(ə)l]
Definition
(v. i.) To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter.
(v. t.) To waste by trifling; as, to dawdle away a whole morning.
(n.) A dawdler.
Checked by Horatio
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Trifle, dally, fiddle, lose time, waste time, idle away time, fritter away time, fool away time.
Editor: Theresa
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Lag, dally, idle
ANT:Haste, speed, dash, rush, work, fag
Edited by Clifford
Definition
v.i. to waste time by trifling: to act or move slowly.—n. Daw′dler.
Checker: Louie
Examples
- The vacation is nearly over, the stints are all done, and we are ever so glad that we didn't dawdle. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I could dawdle about in the nursery and count the apricots on the wall. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I hope I shall have done something to be proud of by that time, but I'm such a lazy dog, I'm afraid I shall dawdle, Jo. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Ma won't be down for ever so long, she said, and then it's a chance if breakfast's ready for an hour afterwards, they dawdle so. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Come, Fanny, taking her hand, do not be dawdling any longer, or the dance will be over. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- I'm tired of dawdling, and mean to work like a man. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Everybody dawdled that morning, and it was noon before the girls found energy enough even to take up their worsted work. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Gerald went across into the darkness and they dawdled past him, talking happily, Birkin's voice low, Ursula's high and distinct. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
Checked by Alfreda