How to Use dawdle in a Sentence

dawdle

verb
  • Hurry up! There's no time to dawdle.
  • Come home immediately after school, and don't dawdle.
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • Pick a base and branch out or mix and match, but don’t dawdle.
    — David Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2021
  • The team couldn’t dawdle because the dolphins might not stay long.
    — Jill Langlois, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Mar. 2022
  • Now is not the time to dawdle, as certain entries on the list might still sell out by week’s end.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 6 Feb. 2025
  • But don’t dawdle, many of the Canada Goose coats part of this sale already show there are just one or two left.
    — Kelsey Glennon, Travel + Leisure, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Make a beeline for your car after the performance to get a jump start on the crowd, or plan to dawdle a bit.
    — Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 3 July 2019
  • Look who’s back in town, ready to stop dawdling between pitches and get on with the business of playing at a crisp pace.
    — Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Mar. 2023
  • If the last launch was any indication, it's bound to be gone in no time, so don't dawdle.
    — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, 15 Jan. 2020
  • Melania can dawdle in New York waiting for her son to finish the school year.
    — Caitlin Flanagan, The Cut, 14 May 2017
  • All part of the less-is-more ethos that has, over the past few seasons, elbowed maximalism out of the way like a dawdling tourist.
    — Véronique Hyland, ELLE, 16 Feb. 2023
  • Then one player went the wrong way coming out of the huddle, while a teammate dawdled.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2023
  • His fingers dawdled over my remedies, but his gaze was locked on my face.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2024
  • We are rushed through the establishment of this world, only to dawdle as time goes by.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 23 Dec. 2021
  • The referees blew the play dead and stood nearby, dawdling like a pair of plainclothes detectives at a crime scene.
    — Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2019
  • But don’t dawdle: The vendors pack up in the early afternoon.
    — Kate Maxwell, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2022
  • Through the haze of scheming and months of posturing, dawdling and resistance, what has emerged is a snapshot of how the owners align.
    — Ken Belson, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2016
  • The raccoon survived and remained briefly in the backyard before slowly dawdling away.
    — Steve Hartman, CBS News, 5 July 2024
  • But in the capital, Friday seemed to dawdle a bit in demonstrating the season’s sparkling essence.
    — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2023
  • Don’t dawdle, though, because places are expected to book up fast.
    — Susan Dunne, courant.com, 28 Mar. 2022
  • Slot’s focus on possession-dominance is not to say that his team dawdles on the ball.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 26 Apr. 2024
  • There is no reason for owner Michael Bidwill to dawdle.
    — Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic, 8 Jan. 2023
  • Even so, many of the survey-takers weren’t happy the city has dawdled on a plan since the first bond referendum was approved eight years ago.
    — Martin E. Comas, Orlando Sentinel, 20 Dec. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dawdle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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