Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Sauntering; idling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of dawdle.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Given the ineptitudes that followed — the Nannygate flap over Attorney General — designate Zoe Baird, gays in the military, Whitewater's first stirrings, the Mogadishu debacle — his dawdling is understandable.

    Policy Wank 2004

  • Given the ineptitudes that followed — the Nannygate flap over Attorney General — designate Zoe Baird, gays in the military, Whitewater's first stirrings, the Mogadishu debacle — his dawdling is understandable.

    Policy Wank 2004

  • I know you couldn't have like the word "dawdling" - but there was no such hesitation the 1st time around for the 21,000 troops (which was a 40% increase, then) and now I believe that the delay was purely a PR stunt, to make it seem like he's agonizing (as much as that's possible, from his 2 weeks at Cape Cod to being in a tuxedo, 2-3x a week) ...

    Room Eight 2009

  • HENRY: There's also risks political risks for Democrats if they appear to be dawdling, which is why they're also sounding a rare note of bipartisanship.

    CNN Transcript Jan 22, 2008 2008

  • HENRY: There's also risks political risks for Democrats if they appear to be dawdling, which is why they're also sounding a rare note of bipartisanship.

    CNN Transcript Jan 22, 2008 2008

  • No man can associate the idea of dawdling with Jenkins and his Guides, yet the Guides reaching Jellalabad on October 12th were not at Gundamuk until the 23d, and Gundamuk is but thirty miles beyond

    The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80 Archibald Forbes 1869

  • You can spend three hours on a single sentence, trying to get it just right, perfect -- a wonderful luxury, the kind of dawdling that's usually impossible with a novel.

    Anis Shivani: Short Stories: Writers Talk About The Form To Anis Shivani 2010

  • You can spend three hours on a single sentence, trying to get it just right, perfect -- a wonderful luxury, the kind of dawdling that's usually impossible with a novel.

    Anis Shivani: Short Stories: Writers Talk About The Form To Anis Shivani 2010

  • HENRY: There's also political risk for Democrats if they appear to be dawdling which is why they're also sounding a rare note of bipartisanship.

    CNN Transcript Jan 22, 2008 2008

  • Government had expressed "astonishing denialism" over the matter and its "dawdling" had fuelled a media frenzy which an inquiry and

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2006

Comments

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  • My adjectival use: 'The dawdling children will be late for class.;

    August 22, 2011