Full many a deynt['e] horse had he in stable.
--Chaucer.
Note: Hence the proverb ``dainty maketh dearth,'' i. e.,
rarity makes a thing dear or precious.
2. Delicious to the palate; toothsome.
Dainty bits Make rich the ribs. --Shak.
3. Nice; delicate; elegant, in form, manner, or breeding;
well-formed; neat; tender.
Those dainty limbs which nature lent For gentle
usage and soft delicacy. --Milton.
I would be the girdle. About her dainty, dainty
waist. --Tennyson.
4. Requiring dainties. Hence: Overnice; hard to please;
fastidious; squeamish; scrupulous; ceremonious.
Thew were a fine and dainty people. --Bacon.
And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, But shift
away. --Shak.
{To make dainty}, to assume or affect delicacy or
fastidiousness. [Obs.]
Ah ha, my mistresses! which of you all Will now deny
to dance? She that makes dainty, She, I'll swear,
hath corns. --Shak.