lollygag
Americanverb (used without object)
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to spend time idly; loaf.
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to indulge in kisses and caresses; make love; neck.
verb
Usage
What does lollygag mean? To lollygag is to dilly-dally, dawdle, loaf around, or goof off. If you’re lollygagging, you’re wasting time by moving slowly or doing something less important than what you should be (or doing nothing at all). Lollygag is primarily used in the United States. It is synonymous with the very similar spelled lallygag, but lollygag is more commonly used. Both are very informal. Example: Coach yelled at Spencer for lollygagging at practice.
Etymology
Origin of lollygag
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; origin uncertain
Explanation
To lollygag is to be slow or idle or lazy. You might say to your dawdling friends, "Don't lollygag! We'll miss our bus!" You lollygag when you take you own sweet time walking to your piano teacher's house, and you also lollygag when you lounge lazily in a hammock under a tree. The word lollygag is an American invention, a slang term that's sometimes spelled lallygag and may stem from the dialectical "tongue" meaning of lolly.
Vocabulary lists containing lollygag
On the Come Up
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Look Both Ways
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"Marita's Bargain" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
