Crossword clues for loitering
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Loiter \Loi"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Loitered; p. pr. & vb. n. Loitering.] [D. leuteren to delay, loiter; cf; Prov. G. lottern to be louse, lotter louse, slack, unsettled, vagrant, OHG. lotar.]
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To be slow in moving; to delay; to linger; to be dilatory; to spend time idly; to saunter; to lag behind.
Sir John, you loiter here too long.
--Shak.If we have loitered, let us quicken our pace.
--Rogers. -
To wander as an idle vagrant. [Obs.]
--Spenser.Syn: To linger; delay; lag; saunter; tarry.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-14c., verbal noun from loiter.
Wiktionary
n. The action of the verb (term: loiter) vb. (present participle of loiter English)
Wikipedia
Loitering is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a protracted time without any apparent lawful purpose. Under certain circumstances, it is illegal in various jurisdictions.
Usage examples of "loitering".
He decided not to press his luck by loitering at the terminal any longer.
With a little business and a good deal of loitering, waiting upon the whim of his pen, Irving passed the weary months of the war.
I could not but share in the enthusiasm of those about me, when loitering near the very ground sacred to the inspiration.
We three have waited here for you, as instructed, taking turns at loitering close by this fountain.
Again one of the sprites climbed to the altitude of the airship, loitering for a few moments on fanning wings before whipping off to rejoin the others.
One or two servitors stalked through the crowd, and occasionally a golden float-cam would bob through the air, loitering over a scene of interest like a single detached eyeball.
The men loitering around the coffee-stall step back from her advance, lest her swinging parcel clip their knees.
Nor should he even contemplate loitering in the parks after dark, where ageing dryads specialise in the rankest depravities--and the rankest diseases.
An unconscionable amount of that time is wasted loitering near his house in Chepstow Villas, waiting for him to emerge.
Cheesman, loitering beside a marble column with two life-size angels wrapped wantonly round it, discards his cigarette and grinds it underfoot.
They saw Micky, noted his top hat and his cigar, and nodded deferentially: it was none of their business what an upper-class man might be doing loitering in a doorway-they were after criminals, not gentlemen.
Near by, some loitering sailors watched the yawlrigged fishing craft from Holland, and the codfish-smelling cul-de-poule schooners of the great fishing company which exploited the far-off fields of Gaspe in Canada.
Here he was, with mystery and peril to hasten his steps, loitering at the spot where the light of home streamed out upon the roadway.
The village of Winold was not a large one, and he explored it from one end to the other in less than half an hour, loitering along its narrow, cobblestoned streets in the crispness of the early evening air.
Garion, still loitering behind, saw two men entering a wide door beneath a crude sign depicting a cluster of grapes.