Loiter

Quick meaning: Loiter is a verb meaning To stand about without any aim or purpose; to stand about idly.

Meaning

To stand about without any aim or purpose; to stand about idly.

More Meanings

1. To remain at a certain place instead of moving on.
2. (military, aviation) For an aircraft to remain in the air near a target.
3. A standing or strolling about without any aim or purpose.
4. (archaic) To stroll about without any aim or purpose, to ramble, to wander.

Example Sentences

For some reason, they discourage loitering outside the store, but encourage it inside.

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

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

Using the transect method, the counter had to maintain a general progress along the transect and was not able to loiter at one spot for too long.

Word Forms

• loiters
• loitering
• loitered

Synonyms for loiter

Depending on context, synonyms include bludge, cabbage, dally, dawdle, diddle, dilly-dally.

Antonyms for loiter

Common opposites include energize, leave, scraffle, scramble, work.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include hang around, lurk, lounge, lollygag, tarry, linger.

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