The verb is possibly:
* a variant of daddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk or work slowly, dawdle, saunter, trifle”) or doddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk feebly or slowly, dawdle, idle, saunter, stroll”), possibly influenced by daw (“(Britain, dialectal) lazy, good-for-nothing person, sluggard”); or
* borrowed from Middle Low German dȫdelen (“to dawdle”), related to Saterland Frisian döädelje (“to dawdle”); compare also German daddeln (“to play”), German verdaddeln (“to waste (time), neglect, ruin”). All of these words are assumed to be of imitative origin.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Meanings
An act of spending time idly and unfruitfully; a dawdling.
An act of moving or walking lackadaisically, a dawdling; a leisurely or slow walk or other journey.
For many the journey home from school was not a walk but a ‘dawdle’: it was an everyday experience that added meaning to their lives. 2017, Colin G. Pooley, Jean Turnbull, Mags Adams, “Travelling to School”, in A Mobile Century?: Changes in Everyday Mobility in Britain in the Twentieth Century, Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate, →ISBN:
Synonym of dawdler (“a person who dawdles or idles”).
Lord, I have ſuch a deal to do, I ſhall ſcarce have time to ſlip on my Italian luteſting.—VVhere is this davvdle of a houſekeeper? 1766, George Colman, David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage, a Comedy. […], London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […]; R[oberts] Baldwin, […]; R. Davis, […]; and T[homas] Davies, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 13:
The verb is possibly:
* a variant of daddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk or work slowly, dawdle, saunter, trifle”) or doddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk feebly or slowly, dawdle, idle, saunter, stroll”), possibly influenced by daw (“(Britain, dialectal) lazy, good-for-nothing person, sluggard”); or
* borrowed from Middle Low German dȫdelen (“to dawdle”), related to Saterland Frisian döädelje (“to dawdle”); compare also German daddeln (“to play”), German verdaddeln (“to waste (time), neglect, ruin”). All of these words are assumed to be of imitative origin.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Meanings
(transitive) Chiefly followed by away: to spend (time) without haste or purpose.
[M]anaging to live on terms with both / Opposing potentates, the Power and you, / Crowned with success, but dawdle out my days / In exile here at Clairvaux, with mock love, […] 1873 January 23, Robert Browning, “Part IV”, in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country: Or Turf and Towers, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 230–231:
to dawdle away the whole morning
(intransitive) To spend time idly and unfruitfully; to waste time.
There are no idlers here; the only loungers are those who have undertaken for hire to do other people's business, and the hireling dawdleth because he is an hireling. What is his master's business to him? he neither knows its importance nor yet cares he if it be neglected. 1888, [Julia Clara Byrne], chapter X, in De Omnibus Rebus: An Old Man’s Discursive Ramblings on the Road of Everyday Life […], John C. Nimmo […], →OCLC, pages 263–264:
White creature wholly white, thou winter-coloured imp, tongue-shaped and slippery, 'wall-streak' and 'rubbish of the floor,' that livest 'neath timbers of a house, that dawdlest underneath the nook, […] 1898, John Abercromby, “Charms of the East Finns, Russians, Letts, etc.”, in The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns: Both Eastern and Western with the Magic Songs of the West Finns, volume II, London: David Nutt […], →OCLC, § 86 (Against the Cow-house Snake), subsection b, page 172:
Tell him, if he'll call on me, and davvdle over a diſh of tea in an afternoon, I ſhall take it kind. 1791, James Boswell, quoting Samuel Johnson, “[1781]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume II, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 405:
However all [Wayne] Hennessey's good work went to waste on 52 minutes when he dawdled on the ball. 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 – 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2023:
You all know when you learn with a will, and when you dawdle. There's no doubt of conscience about that, I suppose? 1866, John Ruskin, “Crystal Virtues”, in The Ethics of the Dust: Ten Lectures to Little Housewives on the Elements of Crystallisation, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 90:
Mr. Collins was not left long to the silent contemplation of his successful love; for Mrs. Bennett, having dawdled about in the vestibule to watch for the end of the conference, no sooner saw Elizabeth open the door and with quick step pass he towards the staircase, than she entered the breakfast-room, and congratulated both him and herself in warm terms on the happy prospect of their nearer connection. 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XX, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 255:
(intransitive) To move or walk lackadaisically.
Blessed are the drivers who dawdleth not in the fast lane. 2005, Charles Manley Brown, “Laws and Regulations”, in Thou Shalt Not Take Thyself too … Seriously: The Lighter Side of the Golden Years, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 68:
If you dawdle on your daily walk, you won’t get as much exercise.
[…] I began to wonder if this Arthur were really the same lad she used to pet and think so much of when he came down to Leatherhead and dawdled with my Lady and Bell along the Surrey lanes of an evening. 1872, William Black, “Saved!”, in The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton. […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 267:
[W]e, who, in muddy boots, dawdle up and down Pall Mall, and peep into the coaches as they drive up with the great folks in their feathers— […] 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which the Reader is Introduced to the Very Best of Company”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 427:
mk се за́влечка (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · uk ба́братися (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 磨磨蹭蹭 (to move or walk lackadaisically) · is drolla (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu őgyeleg (to move or walk lackadaisically) · th อู้ (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr traîner (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · eo lanti (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · tr oyalanmak (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cs flákat se (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru каните́литься (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · ro omorî timpul (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · sq sjell (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr flâner (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl gmerać (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · hu tesz-vesz (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru плести́сь (to move or walk lackadaisically) · cs lelkovat (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · it gingillarsi (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ht flannen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ro tărăgăna (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru копа́ться (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl marudzić (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 蹭 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru ме́длить (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · sco trottle (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr pateter (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de herumbummeln (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · nl talmen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru шля́ться (to move or walk lackadaisically) · hu kódorog (to move or walk lackadaisically) · sco daver (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ca ronsejar (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de herumlungern (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · ro mocăi (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi lampsia (to move or walk lackadaisically) · gmw-ecg attln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu kószál (to move or walk lackadaisically) · cmn 蘑菇 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu elpiszmog (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · da snøle (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · fi nuhjata (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ca torbar (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · da daske (to move or walk lackadaisically) · fi himmailla (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · yue 咪摸 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 磨嘰 /磨叽 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu lődörög (to move or walk lackadaisically) · de bummeln (to move or walk lackadaisically) · ru тащи́ться (to move or walk lackadaisically) · hu cselleng (to move or walk lackadaisically) · gmw-ecg attln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu vacakol (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hak 咪摸 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu piszmog (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mi tonanawe (to move or walk lackadaisically) · da snøle (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · yue 咪咪摸摸 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mk се вле́чка (to move or walk lackadaisically) · ia tardar (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · gmw-ecg damprn (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · se heaibat (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · sv slå dank (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · nan-hbl 挨絲撓倚 /挨丝挠倚 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl bałamucić (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · sco haiver (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru топта́ться (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · vi la cà (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi kuppailla (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi kuhnia (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · es pelotearse (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de plempern (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 麦 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de säumen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr traînailler (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · da dovne (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi kuhnustella (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · az eşələnmək (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · ro trena (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl guzdrać (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · tr aylakça dolaşmak (to move or walk lackadaisically) · mi whakatairuhi (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hak 咪咪摸摸 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu teng-leng (to move or walk lackadaisically) · fi velttoilla (to move or walk lackadaisically) · ru безде́льничать (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · bg безделнича (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr musarder (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de Zeit totschlagen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi viivytellä (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · nl dralen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · bg шляя се (to move or walk lackadaisically) · hu pepecsel (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ja 道草する (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · nl klungelen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi kupeksia (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu lebzsel (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mk ѕе́нѕа (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · th ลีลา (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ht mize (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu flangál (to move or walk lackadaisically) · ja 油を売る (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 夌 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr lambiner (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mk одолговле́кува (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi kuhnailla (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · afb قز (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mk се вле́чка (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · sms äjjned (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · da drive (to move or walk lackadaisically) · nds-de draueln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · gmw-ecg dauteln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr lambiner (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · it bighellonare (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ceb nagpainday-inday (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mi taparuru (to move or walk lackadaisically) · de klüngeln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · vi chờn vờn (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mg mihebinkenina (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 磨叽 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl grzebać (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · gl enredar (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de trödeln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl żmudzić (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ca entretenir-se (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · it traccheggiàre (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ja だらだらする (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi viipyä (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl ociągać (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · ca gallinejar (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · gl enredar (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · tr boşa geçirmek (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · fi kupata (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl zmudzić (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · gmw-ecg dalln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu elszöszmötöl (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · nl leuteren (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cs poflakovat se (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fr glander (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · de herumtrödeln (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · hu lófrál (to move or walk lackadaisically) · hu ténfereg (to move or walk lackadaisically) · lb driibsen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · pl zbałamucić (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · he הִתְמַהְמֵהַּ (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de bummeln (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · eo lanti (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · cmn 磨蹭 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ja ちんたらする (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · mi hāmure (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi vetelehtiä (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cmn 磨 (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · ta நடமாடு (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · da dovne (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · it lellare (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · fi vetelehtiä (to spend (time) without haste or purpose) · la cūnctor (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · hu lézeng (to move or walk lackadaisically) · hu csámborog (to move or walk lackadaisically) · hu szöszmötöl (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de trödeln (to move or walk lackadaisically) · cmn 夋 (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · jam lime (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · cy hoetian (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · de nölen (to spend time idly and unfruitfully) · ru ме́шкать (to spend (time) without haste or purpose)
He was a QC from Edinburgh, wearing the black jacket and pinstripe trousers of his trade, as if straight from court, and probably persuaded to come in the belief that if you could interest the Budhill and Springboig party in the repressive Gaullist policies in Algeria then becoming Solicitor-General was a dawdle. 2009, Archie Macpherson, “Thumping the Tub”, in A Game of Two Halves: The Autobiography, Edinburgh: Black & White Publishing, →ISBN, page 63: