Allan-a-Dale

American

[al-uhn-uh-deyl] / ˌæl ən əˈdeɪl /

Or Alan-a-Dale

noun

(in English balladry) a member of Robin Hood's band who carried off his sweetheart just before she was to be forced into marriage with an aged knight.

Allan-a-Dale British

/ ˌælənəˈdeɪl /

noun

(in English balladry) a member of Robin Hood's band who saved his sweetheart from an enforced marriage and married her himself

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Is not a boy who knows the happy likeness of Old King Cole or Allan-a-Dale as well educated as he who recognizes the picture of an alcoholic liver?

From Project Gutenberg

He asked of my 'house and my home,' as they did of Allan-a-Dale.

From Project Gutenberg

Then he again asked the important question, to which Allan-a-Dale's answer was so unreasonable and so successful.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps I may boast so far as to say that I have laughed on the lass as successfully as did Allan-a-Dale.

From Project Gutenberg

One day, therefore, after having returned from the daily allowance of slaughter, he contrived to find Sir Thomas in the solitude of his own room, and again began to act the part of Allan-a-Dale.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023