Waddled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moving in a manner characterized by short, unbalanced strides while shifting side to side
2. To move forward using awkward, brief steps with a noticeable side-to-side sway
3. Walking in a manner that involves unstable, shuffling motions causing a rocking movement

Etymology: "Waddled" is the past tense of "waddle," and the verb's roots run back to "wade." In Middle English, "wadelen" was a frequentative form of "waden" (to wade), built from "wade" plus the "-le" ending that marks repeated or habitual action, so to waddle was originally to keep wading or wandering about. The sense of walking with a rolling, side-to-side sway developed from that idea of aimless, repeated movement. The verb's wider family shows the same drift. German has "wedeln" (to waggle) and Old High German "wadalōn" (to roam or wander), and both hint at a shared notion of swaying back and forth. The first known English use appears in a version of the "Song of Roland" around 1400, making the word roughly six centuries old in English.

Synonyms: ambled, toddled, staggered, shuffled, swayed

Antonyms: ran, sprinted, jogged, walked, marched