Hypertext Webster Gateway: "trifle"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Trifle \Tri"fle\, n. [OE. trifle, trufle, OF. trufle mockery,
raillery, trifle, probably the same word as F. truffe
truffle, the word being applied to any small or worthless
object. See {Truffle}.]
1. A thing of very little value or importance; a paltry, or
trivial, affair.
With such poor trifles playing. --Drayton.
Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmation
strong As proofs of holy writ. --Shak.
Small sands the mountain, moments make year, And
frifles life. --Young.
2. A dish composed of sweetmeats, fruits, cake, wine, etc.,
with syllabub poured over it.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Trifle \Tri"fle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Trifled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Trifling}.] [OE. trifelen, truflen. See {Trifle}, n.]
To act or talk without seriousness, gravity, weight, or
dignity; to act or talk with levity; to indulge in light or
trivial amusements.
They trifle, and they beat the air about nothing which
toucheth us. --Hooker.
{To trifle with}, to play the fool with; to treat without
respect or seriousness; to mock; as, to trifle with one's
feelings, or with sacred things.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Trifle \Tri"fle\, v. t.
1. To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle. [Obs.]
--Shak.
2. To spend in vanity; to fritter away; to waste; as, to
trifle away money. ``We trifle time.'' --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
trifle
n 1: jam-spread sponge cake soaked in wine served with custard
sauce
2: a detail that is considered insignificant [syn: {technicality},
{triviality}]
3: something of small importance [syn: {trivia}, {triviality},
{small beer}]
v 1: waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently [syn: {piddle},
{wanton}, {wanton away}, {piddle away}]
2: act frivolously [syn: {frivol}]
3: consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She
plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" [syn: {dally},
{play}]
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