doddered


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dod·dered

 (dŏd′ərd)
adj.
1. Botany Lacking the top branches as a result of age or decay.
2. Infirm; feeble.

[Probably alteration of dodded, past participle of dialectal dod, to lop off, from Middle English dodden, perhaps from dodde, a measure of grain.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dod•dered

(ˈdɒd ərd)

adj.
1. infirm; feeble.
2. (of a tree) having lost most of its branches owing to decay or age.
[1690–1700]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Victims of a Minister for Justice who has doddered over the issue for far too long.