Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To stand idly about; linger without any purpose.
- intransitive verb Law To violate a law or ordinance that prohibits persons from remaining in a given location without a clear purpose for an extended period of time, especially when behaving in a manner indicating a possible threat to persons or property in the vicinity.
- intransitive verb To hover over or remain near an area.
- intransitive verb To proceed slowly or with many stops.
- intransitive verb To act slowly or with leisure; take one's time.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To linger; be unduly slow in moving; delay; be dilatory; spend time idly.
- Synonyms To lag, tarry, saunter, dilly-dally.
- To consume or waste, as time, idly or carelessly: used with away: as, he loitered away most of his leisure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To be slow in moving; to delay; to linger; to be dilatory; to spend time idly; to saunter; to lag behind.
- intransitive verb obsolete To wander as an idle vagrant.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To stand about without any aim or purpose; to stand about
idly ; tolinger ; tohang around .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb be about
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Except to the coffee shops in Copenhagen to "loiter," of course.
James Hoggan: The US Chamber of Commerce Is Killing the Copenhagen Climate Treaty 2009
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If the Chamber or other lobbying groups send any staff to international summits like the upcoming Copenhagen conference, their goal is to "loiter" in the coffee shops and collect business cards from delegates they can target later on legislative matters back home.
James Hoggan: The US Chamber of Commerce Is Killing the Copenhagen Climate Treaty 2009
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An even more advanced Tactical Tomahawk coming in two years will be able to change course in midflight and even "loiter" over targets, doing lazy figure-eights in the sky, while it waits for exact coordinates.
'Lock And Download' 2007
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He never mislaid the books, forgot, fumbled, or made a "loiter," _morantia_, as they called it, when the office halted or was unpunctual.
Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln A Short Story of One of the Makers of Mediaeval England 1886
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He might be compared to a wild beast, who dareth not to meddle with the traveller who goeth straightway on his errand, but lieth in wait for such as loiter and fall asleep by the wayside.
Margaret Smith's Journal Part 1, from Volume V., the Works of Whittier: Tales and Sketches John Greenleaf Whittier 1849
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He might be compared to a wild beast, who dareth not to meddle with the traveller who goeth straightway on his errand, but lieth in wait for such as loiter and fall asleep by the wayside.
Tales and Sketches, Complete Volume V., the Works of Whittier: Tales and Sketches John Greenleaf Whittier 1849
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He might be compared to a wild beast, who dareth not to meddle with the traveller who goeth straightway on his errand, but lieth in wait for such as loiter and fall asleep by the wayside.
The Complete Works of Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier 1849
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I have to go to each robot to hand enter ID for cigarettes and alcohol, so I don't have a lot of time to "loiter" at the cashier station anyway.
Lean Blog 2009
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Give these kids a place to go and "loiter" with friends and compete at something other than the "girls affection".
unknown title 2009
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The drones can stay aloft for hours and hours, allowing them to "loiter" in the skies until they’re needed, he said "So with a few of them, you could get round-the-clock coverage."
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