doodle

¹

[ dood-l ]

verb (used with or without object)

, doo·dled, doo·dling.

1. to draw or scribble idly:

   He doodled during the whole lecture.

2. to waste (time) in aimless or foolish activity.
3. Dialect. to deceive; cheat.

noun

1. a design, figure, or the like, made by idle scribbling.
2. Archaic. a foolish or silly person.

doodle

²

[ dood-l ]

noun

, Chiefly North Midland U.S.

1. a small pile of hay; haystack.

doodle

/ ˈduːdəl /

verb

1. to scribble or draw aimlessly
2. to play or improvise idly
3. introften foll byaway to dawdle or waste time

noun

1. a shape, picture, etc, drawn aimlessly

Derived Forms

• ˈdoodler, noun

Other Words From

• doodler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of doodle¹

1625–30 in archaic sense “a fool”; 1935–40 in current senses; compare Low German dudeltopf simpleton

Origin of doodle²

Probably extracted from cock-a-doodle-doo ( def ); a euphemism for cock ³, to avoid association with cock ¹, in sense “penis”

Word History and Origins

Origin of doodle¹

C20: perhaps from C17 doodle a foolish person, but influenced in meaning by dawdle ; compare Low German dudeltopf simpleton

Example Sentences

Emblazoned with a touching prompt and plenty of space for grand declarations or doodles, these cards are a straightforward way to show you care.

From Time

Don’t neglect the doodle option—it’ll allow you to create a new note with a drawing, or append an artsy take to an existing note.

From Popular-Science

It also includes the option to import your own pictures if you’d like to use a pen-and-paper doodle as the foundation for your artwork.

From Popular-Science

Test whether an AI trained to recognize doodles can tell what you’re drawing.

From Science News For Students

The Boox devices let you navigate and mark up PDFs with ease, and the original files are simply saved over with your doodles and notes added.

From TechCrunch

But I still visit the Met when a great painting is brought from Europe, although without adding my own doodle to it.

From The Daily Beast

Yankee Doodle Dandy, from 1942, tells the story of the man who practically wrote the soundtrack to American patriotism.

From The Daily Beast

We also do feel a responsibility to be authentic and educational; every Doodle resolves to a search result so you can learn more.

From The Daily Beast

We do look at how long people play with them—the Moog Doodle had, I think, 54 million songs created.

From The Daily Beast

The first Doodle was before Google was even incorporated, in 1998—the Burning Man logo.

From The Daily Beast

The final chorus was sung to "Yankee Doodle," and accompanied by a fiddle.

From Project Gutenberg

"Dere's monkey-doodle pitzness somevere," muttered Carl, shaking his head ominously.

From Project Gutenberg

Pringle make some monkey-doodle pitzness mit me, und you bed you I do der same mit him.

From Project Gutenberg

She returned to her native land with an English troupe, and made Yankee Doodle go wild.

From Project Gutenberg

A shanghi ruseter cums out, with epaulets on, and crows Yankee Doodle—musik bi the band.

From Project Gutenberg