Dawdle

Definitions

1. An act of spending time idly and unfruitfully; a dawdling.
2. Alternative spelling of doddle (“a job, task, or other activity that is easy to complete or simple”).
   alt-of, alternative
3. An act of moving or walking lackadaisically, a dawdling; a leisurely or slow walk or other journey.
4. Synonym of dawdler (“a person who dawdles or idles”).

Equivalents

Examples

“For many the journey home from school was not a walk⟳ but a ‘dawdle’: it was an everyday experience⟳ that added meaning to their lives.”

“Lord, I have⟳ ſuch a deal⟳ to do, I ſhall ſcarce have⟳ time to ſlip on my Italian luteſting.—VVhere is this davvdle of a houſekeeper?”

“He was a QC from Edinburgh, wearing the black jacket and pinstripe trousers of his trade⟳, as if straight from court, and probably persuaded to come⟳ in the belief that if you could interest⟳ the Budhill and Springboig party in the repressive Gaullist policies in Algeria then becoming Solicitor-General was a dawdle.”

CEFR level