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dally
6 dictionary results for: dally
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
dal·ly       [dal-ee] Pronunciation Key verb, -lied, -ly·ing.
–verb (used without object)
1.to waste time; loiter; delay.
2.to act playfully, esp. in an amorous or flirtatious way.
3.to play mockingly; trifle: to dally with danger.
–verb (used with object)
4.to waste (time) (usually fol. by away).

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME dalien < AF dalier to chat, of uncert. orig.]

dal·li·er, noun
dal·ly·ing·ly, adverb

1. See loiter. 2. flirt, tease, trifle. 3. toy.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dal·ly       (dāl'ē)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   dal·lied, dal·ly·ing, dal·lies

v.   intr.
  1. To play amorously; flirt: "Sylvester dallied about Lena until he began to make mistakes in his work" (Willa Cather). See Synonyms at flirt.
  2. To trifle; toy.
  3. To waste time; dawdle.

v.   tr.
To waste (time).


[Middle English dalien, from Old French dalier.]

dal'li·er n., dal'ly·ing·ly adv.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dally 
c.1300, possibly from Anglo-Fr. dalier "to amuse oneself," of uncertain origin.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
dally

verb
1. behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection" 
2. waste time; "Get busy--don't dally!" 
3. talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women" [syn: chat up
4. consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" 

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dally

Dal"ly\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dallied; p. pr. & vb. n. Dallying.] [OE. ?alien, dailien; cf. Icel. pylja to talk, G. dallen, dalen, dahlen, to trifle, talk nonsense, OSw. tule a droll or funny man; or AS. dol foolish, E. dull.]

1. To waste time in effeminate or voluptuous pleasures, or in idleness; to fool away time; to delay unnecessarily; to tarry; to trifle.

We have trifled too long already; it is madness to dally any longer. --Calamy.

We have put off God, and dallied with his grace. --Barrow.

2. To interchange caresses, especially with one of the opposite sex; to use fondling; to wanton; to sport.

Not dallying with a brace of courtesans. --Shak.

Our aerie . . . dallies with the wind. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dally

Dal"ly\, v. t. To delay unnecessarily; to while away.

Dallying off the time with often skirmishes. --Knolles.

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