as in lurched
to move forward while swaying from side to side
the duck waddled back into the water we watched the penguins waddle over the ice together
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Recent Examples of waddled
When temperatures dropped below 30 degrees this month, the penguins waddled to warmth by going to their indoor enclosure.
—
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 31 Jan. 2026
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 31 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waddled
Verb
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Wembanyama lurched forward, toppled and slammed the right side of his face on the floor.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
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When robots lurched, slipped, and occasionally froze mid-stride at the 2026 Beijing half-marathon on April 19, the internet quickly turned the spectacle into a meme.—
Ni Tao,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Murray and Johnson staggered with the bench unit.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
18 Apr. 2026
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This is when your tiles are laid both horizontally and staggered.—
Ashley Chalmers,
The Spruce,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The midseason trade felt relatively marginal compared to league-wide blockbusters that shuffled James Harden, Darius Garland and Anthony Davis.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
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Growing up in a military family, Vogel shuffled between the East Coast and Europe every two to three years.—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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On the floor, waist-high piles of books tottered like miniature leaning towers of Pisa.—
The Christian Science Monitor,
Christian Science Monitor,
12 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Waddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waddled. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026.
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