Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense doodles, present participle doodling, past tense, past participle doodled
1. countable noun
A doodle is a pattern or picture that you draw when you are bored or thinking about something else.
2. verb
When someone doodles, they draw doodles.
He looked across at Jackson, doodling on his notebook. [VERB]
[Also VERB noun]
doodle in British English
(ˈduːdəl) informal
verb
1.
to scribble or draw aimlessly
2.
to play or improvise idly
3. (intransitive; often foll byaway) US
to dawdle or waste time
noun
4.
a shape, picture, etc, drawn aimlessly
Derived forms
doodler (ˈdoodler)
noun
Word origin
C20: perhaps from C17 doodle a foolish person, but influenced in meaning by dawdle; compare Low German dudeltopf simpleton
doodle in American English
(ˈdudəl)
verb intransitiveWord forms: ˈdoodled or ˈdoodling
1.
to move aimlessly or foolishly; dawdle
2. US
to scribble or draw aimlessly or nervously, esp. when the attention is elsewhere; make doodles
3. US, Informal
to play music in a casual, informal way
noun
4. US
a mark, design, figure, etc. made in doodling
Derived forms
doodler (ˈdoodler)
noun
Word origin
Ger dudeln, to play (the bagpipe), hence to trifle, dawdle (< Pol dudlić < dudy, a bagpipe < Turk duduk, a flute); reinforced by echoic tootle & dawdle
Examples of 'doodle' in a sentence
doodle
He picked up a pencil and began to doodle on it as he waited for me to answer.
Jane Asher LOSING IT (2002)
I turned back to the doodle that would never become an elephant.
Taylor, Andy TOY SHOP (2002)
I doodle in exactly the same way as this, although I sometimes add spirals drawn inside rectangles.
Scarlett Thomas POPCO (2002)
I lowered my clenched fist and released the green die onto the doodle pad in front of me: a five.
George Cockcroft THE DICE MAN (2002)
In other languages
doodle
British English: doodle NOUN
A doodle is a pattern or picture that you draw when you are bored or thinking about something else.
He was staring into space, with a scrawl of doodles on the pad in front of him.
American English: doodle
Brazilian Portuguese: rabisco
Chinese: 信手涂鸦之物
European Spanish: garabato
French: gribouillage
German: Kritzelei
Italian: scarabocchio
Japanese: いたずら書き
Korean: 낙서
European Portuguese: rabisco
Latin American Spanish: garabato
British English: doodle VERB
When someone doodles, they draw doodles.
He looked across at him, doodling on his notebook.