Dolly Varden

[ dol-ee vahr-dn ]

noun
    • a woman's costume of the late 19th century, including a flower-trimmed, broad-brimmed hat and a dress consisting of a tight bodice and bouffant panniers in a flower print over a calf-length quilted petticoat.

    • the hat of this costume.

    • the dress of this costume.

  1. Also Dol·ly Var·den trout [dol-ee vahr-dn trout] /ˈdɒl i ˈvɑr dn ˌtraʊt/ . a char, Salvelinus malma, inhabiting fresh and marine waters of western North America and eastern Asia, formerly considered the same species as the bull trout.

  1. Newfoundland. a large earthenware drinking cup used on fishing vessels.

Origin of Dolly Varden

1
First recorded in 1870–75; costume named after a colorfully dressed character in Dickens' Barnaby Rudge (1841); applied to the fish in allusion to its coloring

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How to use Dolly Varden in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Dolly Varden

Dolly Varden

/ (ˈdɒlɪ ˈvɑːdən) /


noun
  1. a woman's large-brimmed hat trimmed with flowers

  2. a red-spotted trout, Salvelinus malma, occurring in lakes in W North America

Origin of Dolly Varden

1
C19: from the name of a character in Dickens' Barnaby Rudge (1841)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012