dilly
Use Dilly in a sentence
i noun, plural dil·lies. Informal.
something or someone regarded as remarkable, unusual, etc.: a dilly of a movie.
Origin:
1930–35; Americanism; earlier as adj.: wonderful, apparently a shortening of delightful or delicious, with -y1 (now taken as -y2)
1930–35; Americanism; earlier as adj.: wonderful, apparently a shortening of delightful or delicious, with -y1 (now taken as -y2)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To dilly
Collins
World English Dictionary
dill1 (dɪl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | an umbelliferous aromatic Eurasian plant, Anethum graveolens, with finely dissected leaves and umbrella-shaped clusters of yellow flowers |
| 2. | the leaves or seedlike fruits of this plant, used for flavouring in pickles, soups, etc, and in medicine |
| [Old English dile; related to Old High German tilli] | |
| 'dilly1 | |
| —adj | |
00:10
Dilly
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| dilly1 (ˈdɪlɪ) | |
| —n , pl -lies | |
| slang chiefly (US), (Canadian) a person or thing that is remarkable | |
| [C20: perhaps from girl's proper name Dilly] | |
| dilly2 (ˈdɪlɪ) | |
| —adj , -lier, -liest | |
| slang (Austral), (NZ) silly | |
| [C20: perhaps from | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
dilly
"delightful or excellent person or thing" (often used ironically), 1935, from an earlier adj. (1909), perhaps from the first syllable of delightful or delicious, or related to the nursery word for "duck." Dilly was also slang for a stagecoach (1818), from Fr. carrosse de diligence. The noun is 1935.
Dilly-dally is from 1741, a reduplication of dally.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
dilly definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
And the tournament game that forms the climax is a dilly, even though it is contrived.
Couldn't even forcefully encourage him not to dilly-dally in the pocket.
His closet full of identical blue, button-down shirts and khaki slacks eliminates sartorial dilly-dally.
One wonders if you're not dilly-dallying for a reason.
Related Searches
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
