as in lurching
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of waddling
Inside the house, a plastic bin in the TV room held a striped emu chick, waddling under a heat lamp.
—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
Yet one place that Merlin is allowed is inside Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential palace, waddling onto stage on Monday morning for her daily briefing.
—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
26 June 2026
In less than two weeks, Merlín went from waddling through the streets of Mexico City during Mexico's opening victory to visiting the presidential palace.
—
ABC News,
24 June 2026
Once considered delightfully kitschy relics of suburban Americana, porch geese are waddling their way back into the spotlight.
—
Wendy Rose Gould,
Martha Stewart,
29 May 2026
Once all of the ducklings were tucked into the basket, the animals were carried to a nearby canal, with their mother waddling behind them.
—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
28 May 2026
The only telltale sign of what lies below the surface is a metal set of stairs, leading into the icy blue channel, and small groups of divers and snorkelers waddling across the gravel paths in full gear.
—
Carinne Geil Botta,
Travel + Leisure,
16 May 2026
The Quiet Tragedy of the Bottle-Fed Fawn Imprinting is one of those words people toss around casually, usually attached to baby ducks waddling after a researcher.
—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Think penguins waddling back to the same partner each breeding season.
—
Samantha Agate,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Apr. 2026
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
Yet one place that Merlin is allowed is inside Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential palace, waddling onto stage on Monday morning for her daily briefing.
—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
26 June 2026
In less than two weeks, Merlín went from waddling through the streets of Mexico City during Mexico's opening victory to visiting the presidential palace.
—
ABC News,
24 June 2026
Once considered delightfully kitschy relics of suburban Americana, porch geese are waddling their way back into the spotlight.
—
Wendy Rose Gould,
Martha Stewart,
29 May 2026
Once all of the ducklings were tucked into the basket, the animals were carried to a nearby canal, with their mother waddling behind them.
—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
28 May 2026
The only telltale sign of what lies below the surface is a metal set of stairs, leading into the icy blue channel, and small groups of divers and snorkelers waddling across the gravel paths in full gear.
—
Carinne Geil Botta,
Travel + Leisure,
16 May 2026
The Quiet Tragedy of the Bottle-Fed Fawn Imprinting is one of those words people toss around casually, usually attached to baby ducks waddling after a researcher.
—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Think penguins waddling back to the same partner each breeding season.
—
Samantha Agate,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waddling
Verb
-
The old guard of the Democratic Party suffered another body blow when three socialist congressional candidates in New York with anti-Israel platforms swept to victory, lurching the party even further to the left.
-
Taking the ride with Lazy Horse means embracing that chaos, lurching from song to song.
Verb
-
The works depicted broken figures staggering toward the viewer in ragged uniforms — in distorted sizes, giant hands and small heads.
-
The works depicted broken figures staggering toward the viewer in ragged uniforms — in distorted sizes, giant hand and small heads.
Verb
-
Enola dutifully trudges between clues and possibilities, shuffling through crime scenes and racing around shady spaces, all of this much more paint-by-numbers than connect-the-dots.
-
Colombia is trying its luck from distance, but Costa has been equal to each shot, first punching away Jefferson Lerma's rocket from the right, about 25 yards out, and then shuffling his feet to his left and catching Jhon Arias's shot from about the same distance.
Verb
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Alongside Chase and her family stands film director Guy Ritchie; not as a badge‑on celebrity, but as a creative collaborator who has invested both capital and time in the project, designing the Wild Kitchen feasting tables and quietly weaving the whisky into his storytelling world.
-
But over the nearly one-and-a-half years since the 2025 mega-fires, native and invasive grasses, bushes and trees have begun to regrow, weaving flammable greenery across the landscape.
Verb
-
In an accompanying cartoon, Spark is caricatured as a sulking giant, tottering above the Tuscan countryside in a pair of high heels.
-
Among them a City boy wearing three Fit-Bit-type devices, two beautiful Middle Eastern sisters, an outrageously pompous elderly American (sorry; eavesdropping), and several Imelda Marcos lookalikes, tottering out of the treatment rooms with, somehow, their elaborate hairstyles still intact.
Verb
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When Doncic played for the Dallas Mavericks and led them to the 2024 NBA Finals, his two centers — Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford — were exceptional in their roles as lob threats, blocking shots and rolling to the rim.
-
All year, the coastline is a unique, peaceful, and untouched place, thanks to its state park status (no one’s rolling a cooler and beach umbrella onto these rocks).
Verb
-
The name Chelydra serpentina evokes colossal reptiles stomping through ancient forests.
-
That feeling solidified during their solo date, which included stomping grapes, exploring a winery and making a promise to open a special bottle of wine together one year later.
Cite this Entry
“Waddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waddling. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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