to piddle
1
8.7
- verb
- /ˈpɪdəl/
- Informal
:
perder el tiempo
- We can't, so we piddle around with stuff that won't make a bit of difference on the city's balance sheet, although the immediate neighbors should appreciate the effort.
- piddling around
- just piddling
Examples
-
She would often piddle away the afternoon reading novels instead of studying.
-
When Grandpa was old and couldn't really work anymore, he piddled around the barn.
Fiction book (1991) -
I stood at the door for ten minutes with my jacket on and watched my son piddle away his time.
Blog text (21) -
What I piddled around with for months and months took me two weeks of focus to complete.
Blog text (17) -
Hell, I piddled around and piddled around and he finally found somebody else to go in with him.
-
On weekends, I like to piddle in the garden rather than do anything productive.
-
Instead of working on his project, he chose to piddle on social media all day.
Synonyms
888
1.5
Spend time without any activity
350
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
111
4.1
To spend time doing playful or unplanned activities
46
3.6
Act in a silly, playful way instead of working
43
3.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
11
7.0
To spend time doing small, not important jobs in a relaxed way
7
4.3
To spend time relaxing and doing very little
6
7.2
To waste time by doing small unimportant things
5
3.8
To relax and do very little
5
6.5
To spend time doing small, not important tasks slowly without a clear plan
4
5.8
To do nothing while you wait for something to happen
4
7.3
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
3
5.9
To spend time somewhere doing nothing special
3
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
3
8.4
To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way
2
7.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
2
8.6
To spend time doing very little and moving around without plans
2
9.5
To waste time instead of doing the work you need
2
7.9
To waste time and effort without making progress
1
8.7
To spend time doing things that are not important
1
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things instead of working
1
7.7
To spend time doing nothing and not working
1
3.4
To spend time lazily doing little or nothing
1
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
1
7.5
To keep doing the same task without getting anywhere
1
6.5
To spend time doing nothing in a lazy way
1
6.5
To move around slowly doing small jobs in no hurry
1
6.8
Do nothing while waiting for something to happen
1
9.9
To waste time doing silly or lazy things instead of useful work
1
9.9
To waste time doing unimportant or silly things instead of doing something important
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
Spend time or money on unimportant things
To travel slowly without a clear plan
Act in a silly, aimless way and waste time
To waste time on small unimportant things
To waste time doing small, unimportant things
To spend time idly on unimportant things
To waste time on busy work and make no progress
To waste time instead of doing something useful
To waste time instead of working
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
How Idle
728
1.6
7
6.2
- Informal
1
8.7
17
5.0
- Informal
41
4.7
Surface Forms
Etymology
Piddle also came to mean doing small, unimportant actions — a helpful way to remember this is to think of it as playing with little things. So, to piddle away time is to waste it on small, unimportant tasks instead of doing something important.