dally
/ˈdæli/ verb, noun, proper noun
Also a form of dolly
Forms dallies dallying dallied Dallys
- verb To waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness; to trifle.
- verb (ambitransitive) To caress, especially of a sexual nature; to fondle or pet
- verb To delay unnecessarily; to while away.
- noun Several wraps of rope around the saddle horn, used to stop animals in roping.
- verb To wind the lasso rope (ie throw-rope) around the saddle horn (the saddle horn is attached to the pommel of a western style saddle) after the roping of an animal
- proper noun A surname.
- noun (colloquial New Zealand) A New Zealand person of Croatian or other Balkan descent.
Synonyms
dawdle dilly-dally arse about arse around bludge bum around cabbage clown around dick about dick around diddle dretch drumble faff faff about faff around fanny about fanny around fart about fart around toy play flirt chat up butterfly coquet coquette romance philander mash
Etymology
From Middle English dalien, from Anglo-Norman delaier. Doublet of delay.
Possibly from Spanish dale vuelta (“twist it around”) by law of Hobson-Jobson, from dale + la + vuelta.
Contraction of "Dalmatian Coast", from where many Croatian emigrants originated. Also spelt "Dallie"
Webster’s 1913
- verb To waste time in effeminate or voluptuous pleasures, or in idleness; to fool away time; to delay unnecessarily; to tarry; to trifle.
- verb To interchange caresses, especially with one of the opposite sex; to use fondling; to wanton; to sport.
- verb To delay unnecessarily; to while away.
Etymology [OE. , 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.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dally”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details