Dictionary

croodle en · VERB · etymology 1

Etymology

Compare cruddle, crudle.

Meanings

1. (UK, dialectal, obsolete) To cower or cuddle together, as from fear or cold; to lie close and snug together, as pigs in straw.
   • Far ben thy dark green plantin's shade The cushat croodles am'rously a. 1810, Robert Tannahill, The Wood O' Craigie Lea:
   • Mrs. Dootson bridged the other half, and, croodling down to Meg's height, she somewhat forced the friendship 1898, William Edwards Tirebuck, Meg of the Scarlet Fool:
   • Oh! that I had wings-not as a dove , to fly home to its nest and croodle there 1858 January, Charles Kingsley, “My Winter-Garden”, in Frasers Magazine:
2. (UK, dialectal, obsolete) To fawn or coax.

Forms

Synonyms

stroke · fawn over · sweeten · tweedle · butter up · bow and scrape · kiss someone's ass · soft-sawder · honey up · soap · wheedle · carny · butter up · inveigle · cajole · hum · canoodle · fast-talk · ingle · blandish · bootlick · overflatter · butter up · inveigle · overpraise · sweet-talk · kiss up · suck up · blandander · word · flannel · cajole · wheedle · whilly · duchess · croodle · honey around · brownnose · coax · engle · toady · fleech · kiss someone's ring · overrate · dickride · fellate · apple-polish · lick someone's ass · honey around · twist · lick someone's balls · soft-soap · sweet-talk · fawn · kowtow · honey up · collogue

croodle en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

Onomatopoeic "croo" + -le.

Meanings

1. A bird's coo, especially that of a dove.
   • [A]nd no sound falls on my ears, except the distant roar of a passing train, the song of linnets, and croodle of turtle-dove and cushat. 1888, Gordon Stables, In Touch with Nature: Tales and Sketches from the Life, page 46:
   • [A] third-storey apartment under the eaves loud with the croodles and canoodling of amorous pigeons. 1997, Aidan Higgins, Flotsam and Jetsam, page 265:

Forms

croodle en · VERB · etymology 2

Etymology

Onomatopoeic "croo" + -le.

Meanings

1. (dialectal) To make a cooing sound.
   • Too dark to see well, but judge from movements of old bird's head and croodling noise. 1899, Zoologist:
   • Do pigeons croodle, or only doves? 2017, Thomas Rohrer, Worms Drowning in the Rain:

Forms