From Middle English loitren, from Middle Dutch loteren ("to shake, wag, wobble"; > modern Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle, ramble”)), ultimately connected with a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bend, stoop, cower, shrink from, decline”), see lout. Cognate with Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle”), Alemannic German lottern (“to wobble”), German lottern (“live a slovenly life”). More at lout, little.
Meanings
A standing or strolling about without any aim or purpose.
Oh, Sir, we just got up in the morning and had a loiter and a pipe on the green; then we got our breakfasts; […] 1865, Edward Spooner, Parson and People, page 125:
From Middle English loitren, from Middle Dutch loteren ("to shake, wag, wobble"; > modern Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle, ramble”)), ultimately connected with a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bend, stoop, cower, shrink from, decline”), see lout. Cognate with Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle”), Alemannic German lottern (“to wobble”), German lottern (“live a slovenly life”). More at lout, little.
Meanings
(intransitive) To stand about without any aim or purpose; to stand about idly.
For some reason, they discourage loitering outside the store, but encourage it inside.
(archaic, intransitive) To stroll about without any aim or purpose, to ramble, to wander.
With weary steps I loiter on,
Tho’ always under alter’d skies
The purple from the distance dies,
My prospect and horizon gone. 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXVIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 59:
(intransitive) To remain at a certain place instead of moving on.
The dancing, which had been suspended, now recommenced with additional animation, and De Candale claimed Francesca's hand; but the rooms were crowded, and they stood for some time loitering on one of the terraces. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 47:
[Sergio] Agüero, as usual, was loitering with intent and swung his left foot at the ball. The shot was going wide but [David] Silva was there to apply the decisive touch inside the six-yard area. 2015 January 31, Daniel Taylor, “David Silva seizes point for Manchester City as Chelsea are checked”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2017:
For on what does the whole vast and varied membership of the craft rest? It rests, of course, on the little boys whom you see any day loitering about on the far end of station platforms in every part of the British Isles, each one with his grubby notebook and blunt pencil, and his list of all the engines on the railway system, collecting their numbers and names in the vain hope that one day he will have collected them all. 1948 September and October, Canon Roger Lloyd, “The Art and Mystery of the Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 331:
Using the transect method, the counter had to maintain a general progress along the transect and was not able to loiter at one spot for too long. 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:
(intransitive) Of an aircraft, to remain in the air near a target.
loiterature (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loiter time (From the verb or the noun loiter) · Floyder (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loiteringly (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loitering (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loiter-sack (From the verb or the noun loiter) · antiloitering (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loiterer (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loiter munition (From the verb or the noun loiter) · loitering munition (From the verb or the noun loiter)
pl wałęsać się (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de herumlümmeln (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de rumlungern (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es honguearse (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · th ยืนเอ้อระเหย (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it attardarsi (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it sostare (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · sv hänga (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it bighellonare (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl kręcić się (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · wa trinner (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pt vadiar (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · vi la cà (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it aggirarsi (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de herumgammeln (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · mi whakatinaku (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · cs okounět (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fa وایستادن (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · tl mag-asikot (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it indugiare (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de herumtrödeln (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · bg разтакавам се (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de trödeln (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · ne डुल्नु (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es vaguear (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · gl lacazanear (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · mi karioi (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · mi mōnaroa (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · ru ошива́ться (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it gironzolare (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fr flâner (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · grc μένω (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fi vetelehtiä (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · la moror (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fi roikkua (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de herumlungern (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de abhängen (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fi seisoksia (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl szlajać się (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl wałęsać się (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de sich herumdrücken (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fr traîner (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it vagabondare (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es perder el tiempo (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl włóczyć się (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · it oziare (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · is slóra (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · nl rondhangen (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es vagar (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · az veyillənmək (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · cs lelkovat (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · mi paratinaku (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · hu lézeng (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · ru окола́чиваться (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fi munia (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · uk стоя́ти стовпо́м (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl szwendać się (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl łazęgować (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · hu ácsorog (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · wa holer (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es holgazanear (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · la sedeo (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es tirarse la pera (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de herumhängen (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es pavear (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · pl sterczeć (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es banderearse (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · bg мотая се (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de gammeln (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · de rumhängen (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · fi maleksia (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · sv lulla (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · th ยืนเตร็ดเตร่ (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · sv driva runt (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · tl mag-ansikot (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · cmn 遊蕩 /游荡 (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · ru торча́ть (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · sv drälla (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · hu álldogál (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · ta லாந்து (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · tr ağır davranmak (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · sv driva omkring (to stand about without any aim or purpose) · es merodear (to stand about without any aim or purpose)