Category:Dally

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 gender; to use fondling; to wanton; to sport. Not dallying with a brace of courtesans. Shak. Our aerie. . . dallies with the wind. Shak.

dally Dal"ly, v. t.

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