dido

¹ American  

[dahy-doh] / ˈdaɪ doʊ /

noun

Informal.

plural

didos, didoes

1. a mischievous trick; prank; antic.

2. a bauble or trifle.

---

Dido ² American  

[dahy-doh] / ˈdaɪ doʊ /

noun

1. Phoenician Elissa.  Classical Mythology. a queen of Carthage who killed herself when abandoned by Aeneas.

2. a female given name.

---

Dido ¹ British  

/ ˈdaɪdəʊ /

noun

1. classical myth a princess of Tyre who founded Carthage and became its queen. Virgil tells of her suicide when abandoned by her lover Aeneas

---

dido ² British  

/ ˈdaɪdəʊ /

noun

1. an antic; prank; trick

---

Dido Cultural  

1. In Roman mythology, the founder and queen of Carthage in north Africa. She committed suicide in grief over the departure of her lover, the hero Aeneas.

---

Discover More

Dido is an image of the unhappy or unrequited lover.

Etymology

Origin of dido

First recorded in 1800–10; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, cut a dainty diplomatic dido by feeding a hungry naturalized Briton�"Flag," the fawn star of The Yearling, which had been presented to a London zoo.

From Time Magazine Archive

Three times that night she woke in the bed with her curl-papers crackling for very fright; and the fourth time 'twas at the sound of a real dido below stairs.

From News from the Duchy by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

We'll go there together, Dave, and cut a dido.'

From Menotah A Tale of the Riel Rebellion by Henham, Ernest G.

I shouldn't have cut such an everlasting dido if he hadn't been monkeying around.

From Menotah A Tale of the Riel Rebellion by Henham, Ernest G.

"If the brute had cut up such a dido under your bed, you would have been as 'turnal sceared as I was."

From Life in the Clearings versus the Bush by Moodie, Susanna