Dally
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Several wraps of rope around the saddle horn, used to stop animals in roping.
"What matters is now if he tied hard and fast, / Or tumbled his steer with a dally."
- 2 Alternative form of dolly (“offering of fruit or flowers”). India, alt-of, alternative
"We have known Mazagon and long-pod Beans to be thrown out of a dally, because they were full of seed!"
- 3 A New Zealand person of Croatian or other Balkan descent. New-Zealand, colloquial
"The New Zealand wine industry and those who consume the wine it produces owe a huge debt of gratitude to the "Dallies" – the Croatians, and others from that part of eastern Europe who came here in the early 1900s and brought with them a passion for growing, making and drinking wine."
- 1 To waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness; to trifle.
"I wish, grave governor, 'twere in my power / To favour you; but 'tis my father's cause, / Wherein I may not, nay, I dare not dally."
- 2 To wind the lasso rope (ie throw-rope) around the saddle horn (the saddle horn is attached to the pommel of a western style saddle) after the roping of an animal
"The end of the top rope he dallied around the gooseneck trailer hitch."
- 3 consider not very seriously wordnet
- 4 To caress, especially of a sexual nature; to fondle or pet ambitransitive
"Not dallying with a Brace of Curtizans,"
- 5 talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To delay unnecessarily; to while away.
- 7 waste time wordnet
- 8 behave carelessly or indifferently wordnet
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Chaykhana is a Central Asian teahouse where men dally over a cup of tea, share traditional dishes like plov, and discuss current affairs."
Etymology
From Middle English dalien, from Anglo-Norman delaier. Doublet of delay.
Possibly from Spanish dale vuelta (“twist it around”) by law of Hobson-Jobson, from dale + la + vuelta.
Contraction of "Dalmatian Coast", from where many Croatian emigrants originated. Also spelt "Dallie"
Related phrases
More for "dally"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.