Apple's Dictionary.app, which for me pulls from the New Oxford American Dictionary, does mention that potter is the British version:
> put·ter³ | ˈpədər | (British potter)
> verb [no object] North American
> occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks or not concentrating on anything particular: early morning is the best time of the day to putter around in the garden.
> • [with adverbial of direction] move or go in a casual, unhurried way: the duck putters on the surface of the pond.
and defines potter as:
> verb British
> another term for putter³.
(It also has all 3 definitions of putter - golf, engine, gardening - pronounced the same way: ˈpədər)
Thanks. Hehe that's amusingly parochial. ("Whole World except USA" they like to call "British", and 'potter' is merely 'another term for putter'. Everything is inside-out.)
> put·ter³ | ˈpədər | (British potter) > verb [no object] North American > occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks or not concentrating on anything particular: early morning is the best time of the day to putter around in the garden. > • [with adverbial of direction] move or go in a casual, unhurried way: the duck putters on the surface of the pond.
and defines potter as:
> verb British > another term for putter³.
(It also has all 3 definitions of putter - golf, engine, gardening - pronounced the same way: ˈpədər)