dandle
To move up and down on one's knee or in one's arms, in affectionate play, usually said…To move up and down on one's knee or in one's arms, in affectionate play, usually said of a child.
» I dandled the baby on my knee.
Meaning
3 senses(transitive)To move up and down on one's knee or in one's arms, in affectionate play, usually said of a child.
move (a baby) up and down in one's arms or on one's knees
(transitive)To treat with fondness or affection, as if a child; to pet.
pet
(obsolete, transitive)To play with; to wheedle.
Examples
1 sentencesI dandled the baby on my knee.
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
Compare Scots dandill (“to dander; go about idly; move uncertainly; trifle”), English dialCompare Scots dandill (“to dander; go about idly; move uncertainly; trifle”), English dialectal dander (“to wander about; talk incoherently; rave”), Middle Dutch dantinnen (“to trifle”) (from French dandiner (“to swing; waddle”)), German dändeln, tändeln (“to trifle, dandle”), Middle Dutch and Provincial German danten (“to do foolish things; trifle”), German Tand (“trifle, prattle”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
dandles, dandling, dandled, dandledSynonyms
1 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle