# noodling

Pronunciation: say "NOOD-ling" US /ˈnu.dl.ɪŋ/, UK /ˈnuː.dl.ɪŋ/, AUS /ˈnʉː.dl.ɪŋ/

## Noun

1. Free, improvised playing on an instrument, often casual and without a fixed plan.
   - Simple: Playing music in a free, made-up way, without planning it first.
   - _His noodling on the keyboard slowly turned into the chorus of a real song._
   - _The band's warm-up was mostly aimless noodling before the set began._
3. The practice and sport of catching catfish by hand, reaching into underwater holes to grab the fish directly.
   - Simple: Catching catfish by reaching into the water and grabbing them with your bare hands.
   - _Noodling requires reaching into murky holes where catfish like to hide._
   - _He learned noodling from his grandfather on the river one summer._

## Verb

2. Present participle of noodle. *(colloquial)* — present participle and gerund of noodle
   - Simple: Present participle of noodle. Use it after am, is, are, was or were, or to name the action.
   - _The musicians spent the soundcheck noodling on their instruments._
   - _She kept noodling at the keyboard long after rehearsal ended._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/noodling (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).