A word related to idling

Question

Sometimes government officials take an awful lot of time to process a certain file. Or students working on research problems may sit on a problem for long without making any meaningful progress. Could someone suggest a word for the same, say a replacement for 'sit on'? I have a few examples here:

1) Prof to student: Don't __ on this problem for long, you may end up at a cul-de-sac.

2) You have been _ and delaying my file for too long, please process it with urgency.

Answer 1

For the second example, one might use one of

• trifle with, "to play the fool with; to treat without respect or seriousness; to mock"
• thumb-twiddle; "the thumbs circle around a common focal point", "thumb twiddling is frequently used as an example of a useless, time-wasting activity"
• sit on, or sit on hands, idiom, "To fail to act" [edit: I see "sit on" is in question already]
• dally, "To delay unnecessarily; to while away" or dilly-dally, "to dawdle; to waste time; to procrastinate"
• procrastinate, "To put off; to delay taking action; to wait until later. "

Some of the above but not all apply to the first example too.

I've also heard the term goldbricking used of bureaucrats, but from the definition "shirking or malingering" it may be an imperfect fit.

Answer 2

Colloquial terms would include 'dillydally' and 'dawdle.' A term I don't hear very often anymore but that works well is 'tarry.'

Answer 3

When the act of delaying a process is intended it's called stalling and the verb is to stall. It can be both transitive or intransitive.

However, for 1) I'd rather use other alternatives as there seems to be no intention of deliberately stalling there.

TFD:

v.tr.
1. To put or lodge in a stall.
2. To maintain in a stall for fattening: to stall cattle.
3. To halt the motion or progress of; bring to a standstill.
4. To cause (a motor or motor vehicle) accidentally to stop running.
5. To cause (an aircraft) to go into a stall.
v.intr.
1. To live or be lodged in a stall. Used of an animal.
2. To stick fast in mud or snow.
3. To come to a standstill: Negotiations stalled.
4. To stop running as a result of mechanical failure: The car stalled on the freeway.
5. To lose forward flying speed, causing a stall. Used of an aircraft.

Answer 4

I like "get stuck on" personally.

Answer 5

You may use spend time. It is more neutral.