different between mosey vs waddle

English

Alternative forms

• mosy, mozey, mozy

Etymology

Unknown. Originally attested in Southern US dialects. Suggested origins include:

• Spanish vamos (compare vamoose)
• British dialectal mose about (“walk around stupidly”)
• an Algonquian term for "walk" (compare Ojibwe bimose (“she or he walks along”))

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?mo?.zi/

Verb

mosey (third-person singular simple present moseys, present participle moseying, simple past and past participle moseyed)

1. (chiefly US, dialectal) To set off, get going; to start a journey.
   • 1910, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Kilmeny of the Orchard, chapter 1:

     Haven't got time. I must mosey up to the North End to see a man who has got a lovely throat. Nobody can find out what is the matter. He has puzzled all the doctors.

2. (chiefly US, dialectal) To go off quickly: to hurry up.
3. (chiefly US, dialectal) To amble; to walk or proceed in a leisurely manner.
   • 1919, William MacLeod Raine, A Man Four-Square, chapter 6:

     We'll mosey along toward the river. Kinder take it easy an' drift the herd down slow so as to let the cattle put on flesh.

Translations

Usage notes

• Associated especially with the dialect of the Old West.

Anagrams

• Moyes, Moyse

English

Etymology

From Middle English *wadlen, frequentative form of waden, equivalent to wade +? -le. Compare Old High German wadal?n (“to roam; wander”), Middle High German wadelen, wedelen (“to wander; rove”), German wedeln (“to waggle”).First known use in English in a version of the Song of Roland around the year 1400. (Source:OED online)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?d.?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?d.?l/, [?w??.??]
• Rhymes: -?d?l
• Rhymes: -æd?l

Noun

waddle (plural waddles)

1. A squat, swaying gait.

   the waddle of a duck

Translations

Verb

waddle (third-person singular simple present waddles, present participle waddling, simple past and past participle waddled)

1. (intransitive) To walk with short steps, tilting the body from side to side.

Translations

Anagrams

• Dewald, dawdle, dwaled, walded