[dood-l] 
verb, -dled, -dling, noun | 1. | to draw or scribble idly: He doodled during the whole lecture. |
| 2. | to waste (time) in aimless or foolish activity. |
| 3. | Dialect. to deceive; cheat. |
| 4. | a design, figure, or the like, made by idle scribbling. |
| 5. | Archaic. a foolish or silly person. |
[dood-l] | a small pile of hay; haystack. |
| doo·dle (dōōd'l) v. doo·dled, doo·dling, doo·dles v. intr.
To draw (figures) while preoccupied. n. A figure, design, or scribble drawn or written absent-mindedly. [English dialectal, to fritter away time, perhaps from doodle, fool; see doodlebug.] doo'dler n. |
doodle
absent-minded scrawl or scribble, usually executed in some unexpected place, such as the margin of a book or manuscript or a blotting pad when the doodler is preoccupied with some other activity, such as attending a meeting or lecture. The word is supposed to have gained currency because of its use in the film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), though the practice of course is much older, doodles being found in medieval manuscripts, as well as in the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci and on the margins of manuscripts written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Learn more about doodle with a free trial on Britannica.com.