Hypertext Webster Gateway: "dally"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dally \Dal"ly\, v. t.
To delay unnecessarily; to while away.
Dallying off the time with often skirmishes. --Knolles.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dally \Dal"ly\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Dallied}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Dallying}.] [OE. ?alien, 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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
dally
v 1: behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young
girl's affection" [syn: {toy}, {play}, {flirt}]
2: waste time; "Get busy--don't dally!" [syn: {dawdle}]
3: talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The
guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My
husband never flirts with other women" [syn: {chat up}, {flirt},
{butterfly}, {coquet}, {coquette}, {romance}, {philander},
{mash}]
4: consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She
plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" [syn: {trifle},
{play}]
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