Definition of DOODLE

doodle

Meanings

Plural: doodles

Noun

  • an aimless drawing
  • A fool, a simpleton, a mindless person.
  • A small mindless sketch, etc.
  • The penis.
  • Any crossbreed of a poodle with a different breed of dog.

Verb

  • make a doodle; draw aimlessly
  • To draw or scribble aimlessly.
  • To engage in something non-seriously; fiddle.
  • To drone like a bagpipe.

Origin / Etymology

Originally dialectal, from Low German dudeldopp (“simpleton”). Influenced by dawdle. Compare also German dudeln (“to play (the bagpipe)”).
The word doodle first appeared in the early 17th century to mean a fool or simpleton. German variants of the etymon include Dudeltopf, Dudentopf, Dudenkopf, Dude and Dödel. American English dude may be a derivation of doodle.
The meaning "fool, simpleton" is intended in the song title "Yankee Doodle", originally sung by British colonial troops prior to the American Revolutionary War. This is also the origin of the early eighteenth century verb to doodle, meaning "to swindle or to make a fool of". The modern meaning emerged in the 1930s either from this meaning or from the verb "to dawdle", which since the seventeenth century has had the meaning of wasting time or being lazy.

Synonyms

fool, penis, scrabble, scribble

Scrabble Score: 8

doodle is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
doodle is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
doodle is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

doodle is a valid Words With Friends word