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Synonyms

Dolly

1 American  
[dol-ee] / ˈdɒl i /
Or Dollie

noun

  1. a female given name, form of Doll.


dolly 2 American  
[dol-ee] / ˈdɒl i /

noun

plural

dollies
  1. Informal. a doll.

  2. a low truck or cart with small wheels for moving loads too heavy to be carried by hand.

  3. Movies, Television. a small wheeled platform, usually having a short boom, on which a camera can be mounted for making moving shots.

  4. Machinery. a tool for receiving and holding the head of a rivet while the other end is being headed.

  5. a block placed on the head of a pile being driven to receive the shock of the blows.

  6. a small locomotive operating on narrow-gauge tracks, especially in quarries, construction sites, etc.

  7. a short, wooden pole with a hollow dishlike base for stirring clothes while laundering them.

  8. Slang. a tablet of Dolophine.

  9. Also called dolly birdBritish Informal. an attractive girl or young woman.

  10. (sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).


verb (used with object)

dollied, dollying
  1. to transport or convey (a camera) by means of a dolly.

verb (used without object)

dollied, dollying
  1. to move a camera on a dolly, especially toward or away from the subject being filmed or televised (often followed by in orout ).

    to dolly in for a close-up.

dolly British  
/ ˈdɒlɪ /

noun

  1. a child's word for a doll

  2. films television a wheeled support on which a camera may be mounted

  3. a cup-shaped anvil held against the head of a rivet while the other end is being hammered

  4. a shaped block of lead used to hammer dents out of sheet metal

  5. a distance piece placed between the head of a pile and the pile-driver to form an extension to the length of the pile

  6. cricket a simple catch

  7. Also called: dolly birdslang an attractive and fashionable girl, esp one who is considered to be unintelligent

"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

verb

  1. films television to wheel (a camera) backwards or forwards on a dolly

"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
Dolly Cultural  
  1. The first mammal successfully cloned — Dolly, a sheep — was born in 1996 in Scotland as the result of work by biologist Ian Wilmut (see clone). The procedure that produced Dolly involved removing the nucleus from an egg cell and placing the nucleus of an adult sheep's mammary cell into it. Further manipulations caused the egg to “turn on” all genes and develop like a normal zygote. (See totipotency.)


Etymology

Origin of dolly

1600–10; 1900–05 dolly for def. 9; doll + -y 2

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.

Head had completed his third century of the series and was on 121 when Jacks dropped a dolly on the leg-side boundary.

From BBC

This means he ensures the director feels comfortable with the gaffer, the dolly grip, the key grip, so that there’s no one on set that feels like a stranger.

From Los Angeles Times

“Jacques is the kind of director who has a signature shot, like Spike Lee’s dollies,” the cinematographer notes.

From Los Angeles Times

He said he used a tow dolly to pick up cars and haul them to salvage yards to make some money as he tried to rebuild.

From Los Angeles Times

Empty dollies and carts stood near two employees who readied books for delivery.

From Los Angeles Times