hoddle
A Scottish dialect verb meaning to walk with a clumsy, rocking side-to-side motion — the kind of ungainly shuffle associated with toddlers, people loaded down with heavy bags, or someone whose shoes are two sizes too small.
Definitions
A Scottish dialect verb meaning to walk with a clumsy, rocking side-to-side motion — the kind of ungainly shuffle associated with toddlers, people loaded down with heavy bags, or someone whose shoes are two sizes too small. Hoddle paints a vivid picture with very few letters: you can almost see the figure waddling along, arms out for balance. Though largely confined to Scottish vernacular, it has an immediate charm that makes its meaning obvious even to outsiders.
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(Scotland, intransitive) To waddle.
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- daidle70%
A Scottish dialect gem that covers everything from wobbly walking to aimless wandering. To daidle is to totter or shuffle along unsteadily, or simply to saunter without any particular purpose — the kind of slow, unhurried movement that drives impatient people mad. As a noun it also means a pinafore, though the verb senses are far more colourful. Think of it as the Scottish cousin of dawdling, with an extra hint of instability.
- hobble69%
An unsteady, off-balance step.
- daidle68%
(Scotland) To daddle; totter; move unsteadily.
- hotch66%
(now, chiefly, Scotland) To move irregularly up and down.