dawdle — to move or act slowly and without purpose; to waste time
Part of speech: VERB
Definition: to move or act slowly and without purpose; to waste time
Pronunciation (IPA): /ˈdɔːdəl/
Example Sentences
- My cat dawdles to its food bowl like it's walking the red carpet.
- Students often dawdle after the final bell rings.
- He dawdled so much getting ready that he missed three buses.
dawdle
VERB[/ˈdɔːdəl/]
to move or act slowly and without purpose; to waste time
Moving slowly without purpose
Dad'll take forever — dawdling down the hall!
Don't dawdle and waddle, grab your paddle!
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🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
From the Middle English 'dawdlen,' likely of uncertain or dialectal origin. The word may be related to Old Norse or Scandinavian roots, though its exact etymology remains unclear.
Breakdown
dawdle (verb): No clear morpheme breakdown; the word is a simple, likely borrowed root without standard prefixes or suffixes in its base form. The '-le' ending is typical of frequentative verbs in English (e.g., 'dazzle,' 'paddle').
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“My cat dawdles to its food bowl like it's walking the red carpet.”
“Students often dawdle after the final bell rings.”
“He dawdled so much getting ready that he missed three buses.”
“Don't dawdle in the shopping mall - we have other places to visit.”
📚Related Words
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