dally

American  

[dal-ee] / ˈdæl i /

verb (used without object)

dallies, present (3rd person singular) dallied, past participle, past dallying present participle

1. to waste time; loiter; delay.

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

   Synonyms:

   trifle, tease, flirt

3. to play mockingly; trifle.

   to dally with danger.

   Synonyms:

   toy

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verb (used with object)

dallies, present (3rd person singular) dallied, past participle, past dallying present participle

1. to waste (time) (usually followed byaway ).

dally British  

/ ˈdælɪ /

verb

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

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Synonym Usage

See loiter.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dallier
  noun
• dallyingly
  adverb
• undallying
  adjective

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have dallied
  perfect
• has dallied
  perfect 3rd person singular
• are dallying
  progressive
• have been dallying
  perfect progressive
• am dallying
  progressive 1st person singular
• has been dallying
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• is dallying
  progressive 3rd person singular
• dallying
  participle
• dallies
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had dallied
  perfect
• were dallying
  progressive plural
• was dallying
  progressive singular
• dallied
  participle
• dallied
  simple
• had been dallying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dally
  simple
• will have dallied
  perfect
• will have been dallying
  perfect progressive
• will be dallying
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of dally

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English dalien from Anglo-French dalier “to chat,” of uncertain origin

Explanation

Dally means “to waste time.” When you dally, you will cause a delay because of your dawdling. You have probably heard the expression "to dilly-dally" — which means “to dawdle.” Well, if you take the dilly out of dilly-dally to get just dally — you still have pretty much the same meaning. Dally has other common definitions, such as “to flirt” (especially without care of the result) or “to play.” The light tone is probably an echo of its origin, which is likely the French word dalier, meaning “to amuse oneself.”