dally

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dally

delay; waste time: dally along the way; play about; flirt: dally with her affections

Not to be confused with:

daily – occurring every day: regularly, constantly: he gets a newspaper daily

dal·ly

(dăl′ē)

v. dal·lied, dal·ly·ing, dal·lies

v.intr.

1. To play amorously; flirt: My friend dallied with my cousin during the picnic.

2. To consider or occupy oneself with something in a careless or unserious fashion; toy. See Synonyms at flirt.

3. To dawdle, delay, or linger: Don't dally or we'll miss the train.

v.tr.

To spend (time) idly: dally away the afternoon.

[Middle English dalien, from Old French dalier.]

dal′li·er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dally

(ˈdælɪ)

vb (intr) , -lies, -lying or -lied

1. to waste time idly; dawdle

2. (usually foll by with) to deal frivolously or lightly with; trifle; toy: to dally with someone's affections.

[C14: from Anglo-French dalier to gossip, of uncertain origin]

ˈdallier n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dal•ly

(ˈdæl i)

v. -lied, -ly•ing. v.i.

1. to waste time; loiter; delay.

2. to act playfully, esp. in an amorous or flirtatious way.

3. to play mockingly; trifle: to dally with danger.

v.t.

4. to waste (time) (usu. fol. by away).

[1250–1300; Middle English dalien < Anglo-French dalier to chat, of uncertain orig.]

dal′li•er, n.

dal′ly•ing•ly, adv.

syn: See loiter.

dally

Past participle: dallied
Gerund: dallying

Imperative
dally
dally

Present
I dally
you dally
he/she/it dallies
we dally
you dally
they dally

Preterite
I dallied
you dallied
he/she/it dallied
we dallied
you dallied
they dallied

Present Continuous
I am dallying
you are dallying
he/she/it is dallying
we are dallying
you are dallying
they are dallying

Present Perfect
I have dallied
you have dallied
he/she/it has dallied
we have dallied
you have dallied
they have dallied

Past Continuous
I was dallying
you were dallying
he/she/it was dallying
we were dallying
you were dallying
they were dallying

Past Perfect
I had dallied
you had dallied
he/she/it had dallied
we had dallied
you had dallied
they had dallied

Future
I will dally
you will dally
he/she/it will dally
we will dally
you will dally
they will dally

Future Perfect
I will have dallied
you will have dallied
he/she/it will have dallied
we will have dallied
you will have dallied
they will have dallied

Future Continuous
I will be dallying
you will be dallying
he/she/it will be dallying
we will be dallying
you will be dallying
they will be dallying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been dallying
you have been dallying
he/she/it has been dallying
we have been dallying
you have been dallying
they have been dallying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been dallying
you will have been dallying
he/she/it will have been dallying
we will have been dallying
you will have been dallying
they will have been dallying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been dallying
you had been dallying
he/she/it had been dallying
we had been dallying
you had been dallying
they had been dallying

Conditional
I would dally
you would dally
he/she/it would dally
we would dally
you would dally
they would dally

Past Conditional
I would have dallied
you would have dallied
he/she/it would have dallied
we would have dallied
you would have dallied
they would have dallied

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	dally - behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection" toy, flirt, play trifle, dally, play - consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel"
	2.	dally - waste time; "Get busy--don't dally!" dawdle behave, act, do - behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself; "You should act like an adult"; "Don't behave like a fool"; "What makes her do this way?"; "The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people"
	3.	dally - talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women" chat up, coquet, coquette, flirt, mash, philander, romance, butterfly talk, speak - exchange thoughts; talk with; "We often talk business"; "Actions talk louder than words" wanton - engage in amorous play vamp - act seductively with (someone)
	4.	dally - consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" trifle, play look at, deal, consider, take - take into consideration for exemplifying purposes; "Take the case of China"; "Consider the following case" dally, toy, flirt, play - behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection"

dally

verb (Old-fashioned) waste time, delay, fool (about or around), linger, hang about, loiter, while away, dawdle, fritter away, procrastinate, tarry, dilly-dally (informal), drag your feet or heels He did not dally long over his meal.
run, hurry (up), hasten, step on it (informal), make haste, push forward or on

dally with someone flirt with, tease, lead on, toy with, play around with, fool (about or around) with, trifle with, play fast and loose with (informal), frivol with (informal) He was dallying with some floosie.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

dally

verb

1. To make amorous advances without serious intentions:

coquet, flirt, toy, trifle.

2. To treat lightly or flippantly:

flirt, play, toy, trifle.

3. To go or move slowly so that progress is hindered:

dawdle, delay, dilly-dally, drag, lag, linger, loiter, poke, procrastinate, tarry, trail.

Idioms: drag one's feet, mark time, take one's time.

Translations

يَتَوانى

loudat seotálet

smøle

trödeln

lambiner

idő: idõt elfecsérel

hangsa

oziare

delstigaišti laiką

niekotiesnosist laiku

fjase somle

ağırdan almakoyalanmak

延误闲荡

dally

[ˈdælɪ] VI

1. (= dawdle) → tardar
to dally over sth → perder el tiempo con algo
see also dilly-dally

2. (= amuse o.s.) → divertirse
to dally with [+ lover] → coquetear con, tener escarceos amorosos con; [+ idea] → entretenerse con

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dally

[ˈdæli] vi

(= dawdle) → musarder, flâner

(= flirt) to dally with sb → badiner amoureusement avec qn

to dally with an idea → caresser une idée

dally

(= waste time) → (herum)trödeln, bummeln; without dallying → ohne zu trödeln or bummeln

(= flirt) to dally with somebody → mit jdm schäkern; to dally with an idea → mit einem Gedanken liebäugeln

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dally

[ˈdælɪ] vi (delay) → dilungarsi
to dally about → perdere tempo
to dally over sth → perdere tempo con qc

dally

(ˈdӕli) verb

to go etc slowly. Don't dally – do hurry up!

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Banners yellow, glorious, golden, On its roof did float and flow,(This -- all this -- was in the olden Time long ago,) And every gentle air that dallied, In that sweet day, Along the ramparts plumed and pallid, A winged odour went away.

View in context

Sometimes they lounged at the steps of a church, and sometimes dallied among cypresses against a cloudless sky; sometimes they made love by a Renaissance well-head, and sometimes they wandered through the Campagna by the side of an ox-waggon.

View in context

``We are honoured,'' he said to Ivanhoe, apart, ``by the presence of our gallant Sovereign; yet I would not that he dallied with time, which the circumstances of his kingdom may render precious.''

View in context

Sylvester dallied about Lena until he began to make mistakes in his work; had to stay at the bank until after dark to make his books balance.

View in context

I dallied with little home clubs wherein we discussed poetry and art and the nuances of grammar.