DALLY (dallied)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: dallied   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dally mean? 

• DALLY (verb)
  The verb DALLY has 4 senses:

1. behave carelessly or indifferently

2. waste time

3. talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

4. consider not very seriously

  Familiarity information: DALLY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DALLY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dally    ... he / she / it dallies   
Past simple: dallied   
Past participle: dallied   
-ing form: dallying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behave carelessly or indifferently

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

dally; flirt; play; toy

Context example:

Play about with a young girl's affection

Hypernyms (to "dally" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Verb group:

dally; play; trifle (consider not very seriously)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

dalliance (playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Waste time

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

dally; dawdle

Context example:

Get busy--don't dally!

Hypernyms (to "dally" is one way to...):

act; behave; do (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

dalliance (the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working)

dallier (someone who wastes time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

butterfly; chat up; coquet; coquette; dally; flirt; mash; philander; romance

Context example:

My husband never flirts with other women

Hypernyms (to "dally" is one way to...):

speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dally"):

wanton (engage in amorous play)

vamp (act seductively with (someone))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam wants to dally with Sue

Derivation:

dalliance (playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Consider not very seriously

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

dally; play; trifle

Context example:

She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania

Hypernyms (to "dally" is one way to...):

consider; deal; look at; take (take into consideration for exemplifying purposes)

Verb group:

dally; flirt; play; toy (behave carelessly or indifferently)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam wants to dally with Sue

 Context examples 

And indeed to watch him dallying with a little gobbet of bread, or sipping his cup of thrice-watered wine, is enough to make a man feel shame at his own hunger.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There is no time to dilly-dally in our work.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It is no time for dallying.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)