Dawdle vs. Loiter — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Dawdle and Loiter
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Compare with Definitions
Dawdle
Waste time; be slow
She mustn't dawdle—she had to make the call now
Loiter
Stand or wait around without apparent purpose
She saw Mary loitering near the cloakrooms
Dawdle
To take more time than necessary
Dawdled through breakfast.
Loiter
To stand idly about; linger without any purpose.
Dawdle
To move aimlessly or lackadaisically
Dawdling on the way to work.
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Loiter
(Law) To violate a law or ordinance that prohibits persons from remaining in a given location without a clear purpose for an extended period of time, especially when behaving in a manner indicating a possible threat to persons or property in the vicinity.
Dawdle
To waste (time) by idling
Dawdling the hours away.
Loiter
To hover over or remain near an area
Fog loitered over the mountains. A jet loitered in the sky near the airbase.
Dawdle
(transitive) Chiefly followed by away: to spend (time) without haste or purpose.
To dawdle away the whole morning
Loiter
To proceed slowly or with many stops
Loitered all the way home.
Dawdle
(intransitive)
Loiter
To act slowly or with leisure; take one's time
"The organist loitered over the keys, making sure of his mastery of the coming Sabbath anthem" (O. Henry).
Dawdle
To spend time idly and unfruitfully; to waste time.
Loiter
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.
Dawdle
To move or walk lackadaisically.
If you dawdle on your daily walk, you won’t get as much exercise.
Loiter
To remain at a certain place instead of moving on.
Dawdle
An act of spending time idly and unfruitfully; a dawdling.
Loiter
For an aircraft to remain in the air near a target.
Dawdle
An act of moving or walking lackadaisically, a dawdling; a leisurely or slow walk or other journey.
Loiter
A standing or strolling about without any aim or purpose.
Dawdle
Synonym of dawdler
Loiter
To be slow in moving; to delay; to linger; to be dilatory; to spend time idly; to saunter; to lag behind.
Sir John, you loiter here too long.
If we have loitered, let us quicken our pace.
Dawdle
Alternative spelling of doddle
Loiter
To wander as an idle vagrant.
Dawdle
To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter.
Come some evening and dawdle over a dish of tea with me.
We . . . dawdle up and down Pall Mall.
Loiter
Be about;
The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square
Who is this man that is hanging around the department?
Dawdle
To waste by trifling; as, to dawdle away a whole morning.
Dawdle
A dawdler.
Dawdle
Take one's time; proceed slowly
Dawdle
Waste time;
Get busy--don't dally!
Dawdle
Hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
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