DALLY

dally, trifle, play

(verb) consider not very seriously; “He is trifling with her”; “She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania”

dally, dawdle

(verb) waste time; “Get busy--don’t dally!”

dally, toy, play, flirt

(verb) behave carelessly or indifferently; “Play about with a young girl’s affection”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Proper noun

Dally (plural Dallys)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Dally is the 21371st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1225 individuals. Dally is most common among White (86.29%) individuals.

Etymology 2

Contraction of "Dalmatian Coast", from where many Croatian emigrants originated. Also spelt "Dallie"

Noun

Dally (plural Dallies)

(colloquial New Zealand English) A New Zealand person of Croatian or other Balkan descent.

Anagrams

• d'y'all, y'all'd

Etymology 1

Verb

dally (third-person singular simple present dallies, present participle dallying, simple past and past participle dallied)

To waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness; to trifle.

(ambitransitive) To caress, especially of a sexual nature; to fondle or pet

To delay unnecessarily; to while away.

Synonyms

• (to waste time): dawdle, dilly-dally; see also loiter

• (to caress): feel up, grope, touch up; see also fondle

• (delay unnecessarily): kill time

Etymology 2

Noun

dally (plural dallies)

Several wraps of rope around the saddle horn, used to stop animals in roping.

Verb

dally (third-person singular simple present dallies, present participle dallying, simple past and past participle dallied)

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

Anagrams

• d'y'all, y'all'd

Source: Wiktionary


Dal"ly, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dallied; p. pr. & vb. n. Dallying.] Etym: [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.]

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.

Dal"ly, v. t.

Definition: To delay unnecessarily; to while away. Dallying off the time with often skirmishes. Knolles.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

6 May 2025

HEEDLESS

(adjective) marked by or paying little heed or attention; “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics”--Franklin D. Roosevelt; “heedless of danger”; “heedless of the child’s crying”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

coffee icon