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loiter

verb
/ˈlɔɪtə(ɹ)/UK/ˈlɔɪtɚ/US

Etymology

From Middle English loitren, from Middle Dutch loteren ("to shake, wag, wobble"; > modern Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle, ramble”)), ultimately connected with a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bend, stoop, cower, shrink from, decline”), see lout. Cognate with Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle”), Alemannic German lottern (“to wobble”), German lottern (“live a slovenly life”). More at lout, little.

  1. derived from *lūtaną✻ — “to bend, stoop, cower, shrink from, decline”
  2. derived from loteren
  3. inherited from loitren

Definitions

  1. To stand about without any aim or purpose

    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.

  2. To stroll about without any aim or purpose, to ramble, to wander.

    • With weary steps I loiter on, ⁠Tho’ always under alter’d skies ⁠The purple from the distance dies, My prospect and horizon gone.

  3. To remain at a certain place instead of moving on.

    • The dancing, which had been suspended, now recommenced with additional animation, and De Candale claimed Francesca's hand; but the rooms were crowded, and they stood for some time loitering on one of the terraces.
    • [Sergio] Agüero, as usual, was loitering with intent and swung his left foot at the ball. The shot was going wide but [David] Silva was there to apply the decisive touch inside the six-yard area.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. For an aircraft to remain in the air near a target.

    2. A standing or strolling about without any aim or purpose.

      • Oh, Sir, we just got up in the morning and had a loiter and a pipe on the green; then we got our breakfasts; […]

The neighborhood

Derived

antiloitering, Floyder, loiterature, loiterer, loiteringly, loitering munition, loiter munition, loitering → loiteringly, loiter-sack, loiter time

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for loiter. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA