小词详解 | waddle

waddle 英 [ˈwɒdl] 美 [ˈwɑːdl]

TEM8 GRE

外刊例句

• The depressive Misha waddles around their small flat, holding up a mirror to his saviour’s own bleak life.
  抑郁的米沙在他们的小公寓里摇摇摆摆地四处走着，举着一面镜子映照着它的拯救者自身的凄凉生活。
  ——《经济学人》
• The 17-month-old girl waddled down the hall of the nursing home in her furry pumpkin costume, gripping her Halloween booty.
  这个17个月大的女孩穿着毛茸茸的南瓜服装，紧抓着她的万圣节战利品，摇摇摆摆地走过疗养院的大厅。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] walk with short steps and a clumsy swaying motion
[动词] 迈着小步笨拙地摆动着走

深入解读

Waddle 是一个与小站（微信公众号：田间小站）推送过的 coddle, cuddle, huddle, fiddle, muddle, straddle, peddle, meddle 等有着相同结尾的单词，可以一并联想记忆。

从词源上来看， waddle 一词最早出现于16世纪90年代，是单词 wade 的重复体，主要用来表示鸭子或企鹅似地“蹒跚行走、摇摇摆摆地行走”，常用来形容身胖腿短的人或动物迈着小步笨拙地摆动着走。比如：

• 伊罗步履蹒跚地走近，肚子鼓胀凸出。
  Jiro waddled closer, his belly bulging and distended.
• 傍晚时分，鸭子们摇摇摆摆地来到前门进食。
  In the evenings, ducks waddle up to the front door to be fed.

用作名词时， waddle 则相应表示“蹒跚、摇摇摆摆的行走”以及“蹒跚的步态（gait）”。

名著用例

Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen.
他用双手紧紧护住屁股，跌跌撞撞地尽快冲进厨房。

出自英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第四本《哈利·波特与火焰杯》（Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire）。

同近义词

• toddle: (of a young child) move with short unsteady steps while learning to walk
• dodder: move in a feeble or unsteady way, especially because of old age
• wobble: move or cause to move unsteadily from side to side