dawdle
verb /ˈdɔːdl/
/ˈdɔːdl/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they dawdle | /ˈdɔːdl/ /ˈdɔːdl/ |
| he / she / it dawdles | /ˈdɔːdlz/ /ˈdɔːdlz/ |
| past simple dawdled | /ˈdɔːdld/ /ˈdɔːdld/ |
| past participle dawdled | /ˈdɔːdld/ /ˈdɔːdld/ |
| -ing form dawdling | /ˈdɔːdlɪŋ/ /ˈdɔːdlɪŋ/ |
- to take a long time to do something or go somewhere
- Stop dawdling! We're going to be late!
- + adv./prep. They dawdled along by the river, laughing and talking.
Word Originmid 17th cent.: related to dialect daddle, doddle ‘dally’.