dally

dally

delay; waste time: dally along the way; play about; flirt: dally with her affections

Not to be confused with:

daily – occurring every day: regularly, constantly: he gets a newspaper daily

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

dal·ly

 (dăl′ē)

v. dal·lied, dal·ly·ing, dal·lies

v.intr.

1. To play amorously; flirt: My friend dallied with my cousin during the picnic.

2. To consider or occupy oneself with something in a careless or unserious fashion; toy. See Synonyms at flirt.

3. To dawdle, delay, or linger: Don't dally or we'll miss the train.

v.tr.

To spend (time) idly: dally away the afternoon.

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[Middle English dalien, from Old French dalier.]

---

dal′li·er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dally

(ˈdælɪ)

vb (intr) , -lies, -lying or -lied

1. to waste time idly; dawdle

2. (usually foll by with) to deal frivolously or lightly with; trifle; toy: to dally with someone's affections.

[C14: from Anglo-French dalier to gossip, of uncertain origin]

ˈdallier n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dal•ly

(ˈdæl i)

v. -lied, -ly•ing. v.i.

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.

v.t.

4. to waste (time) (usu. fol. by away).

[1250–1300; Middle English dalien < Anglo-French dalier to chat, of uncertain orig.]

dal′li•er, n.

dal′ly•ing•ly, adv.

syn: See loiter.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

dally

Past participle: dallied
Gerund: dallying

Imperative

dally

dally

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	dally - behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection" toy, flirt, play trifle, dally, play - consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel"
	2.	dally - waste time; "Get busy--don't dally!" dawdle behave, act, do - behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself; "You should act like an adult"; "Don't behave like a fool"; "What makes her do this way?"; "The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people"
	3.	dally - talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women" chat up, coquet, coquette, flirt, mash, philander, romance, butterfly talk, speak - exchange thoughts; talk with; "We often talk business"; "Actions talk louder than words" wanton - engage in amorous play vamp - act seductively with (someone)
	4.	dally - consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" trifle, play look at, deal, consider, take - take into consideration for exemplifying purposes; "Take the case of China"; "Consider the following case" dally, toy, flirt, play - behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

dally

verb (Old-fashioned) waste time, delay, fool (about or around), linger, hang about, loiter, while away, dawdle, fritter away, procrastinate, tarry, dilly-dally (informal), drag your feet or heels He did not dally long over his meal.
run, hurry (up), hasten, step on it (informal), make haste, push forward or on

dally with someone flirt with, tease, lead on, toy with, play around with, fool (about or around) with, trifle with, play fast and loose with (informal), frivol with (informal) He was dallying with some floosie.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

dally

verb

1. To make amorous advances without serious intentions:

coquet, flirt, toy, trifle.

2. To treat lightly or flippantly:

flirt, play, toy, trifle.

3. To go or move slowly so that progress is hindered:

dawdle, delay, dilly-dally, drag, lag, linger, loiter, poke, procrastinate, tarry, trail.

Idioms: drag one's feet, mark time, take one's time.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

يَتَوانى

loudat seotálet

smøle

trödeln

lambiner

idő: idõt elfecsérel

hangsa

oziare

delstigaišti laiką

niekotiesnosist laiku

fjasesomle

ağırdan almakoyalanmak

延误闲荡

dally

[ˈdælɪ] VI

1. (= dawdle) → tardar
to dally over sth → perder el tiempo con algo
see also dilly-dally

2. (= amuse o.s.) → divertirse
to dally with [+ lover] → coquetear con, tener escarceos amorosos con; [+ idea] → entretenerse con

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dally

[ˈdæli] vi

(= dawdle) → musarder, flâner

(= flirt) to dally with sb → badiner amoureusement avec qn

to dally with an idea → caresser une idée

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dally

vi

(= waste time) → (herum)trödeln, bummeln; without dallying → ohne zu trödeln or bummeln

(= flirt) to dally with somebody → mit jdm schäkern; to dally with an idea → mit einem Gedanken liebäugeln

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dally

[ˈdælɪ] vi (delay) → dilungarsi
to dally about → perdere tempo
to dally over sth → perdere tempo con qc

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

dally

(ˈdӕli) verb

to go etc slowly. Don't dally – do hurry up! drentel, talm يَتَوانى бавя се atrasar-se otálet, loudat se trödeln smøle χασομερώ tardar aega viitma فس فس کردن؛ وقت تلف کردن hidastella lambiner לְבַזבֵּז זְמָן समय गंवाना, टाल-मटोल करना odugovlačiti, oklijevati időt elfecsérel bekerja secara perlahan-lahan hangsa perder tempo ぐずぐずする 꾸물거리다 delsti, gaišti laiką niekoties; nosist laiku berlengah-lengah treuzelensomle, fjase wlec się, marudzić نخرې كول: خوشى عبث وخت تېرول: معاشقه كول، نازكول atrasar-se a-şi pierde vremea тратить время попусту vliecť sa obirati se oklevati ชักช้า ağırdan almak, oyalanmak 閒盪，延誤 гаяти час وقت گنوانا đi chậm chạp 闲荡，延误

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.