Hypertext Webster Gateway: "dallying"
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.
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