waddle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun walking with short steps and the weight tilting from one foot to the other
    • ducks walk with a waddle
  2. verb walk unsteadily
    totter; paddle; coggle; dodder; toddle.
    • small children toddle

WordNet

Wad"dle intransitive verb
Etymology
Freq. of wade; cf. AS. wædlian to beg, from wadan to go. See Wade.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Waddled ; present participle & verbal noun Waddling
Definitions
  1. To walk with short steps, swaying the body from one side to the other, like a duck or very fat person; to move clumsily and totteringly along; to toddle; to stumble; as, a child waddles when he begins to walk; a goose waddles. Shak.
    She drawls her words, and waddles in her pace. Young.
Wad"dle transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To trample or tread down, as high grass, by walking through it. R. Drayton.

Webster 1913