dally
verb (used without object)
to waste time; loiter; delay.
had been dallying
-
past perfect progressiveof dally.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
The unit organizer, who had been dallying with his pencil, looked up.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Lee laid down the quill with which he had been dallying, and settled himself comfortably in his chair.
From A Practical Novelist by John Davidson
Gumbo, who had been dallying with the maids of the second carriage, clattered up, and mingled his howls with Lady Maria's lamentations.
From The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray
His blue eyes looked into nothing, and his mind's eye saw the house of cards he had been dallying with totter and fall.
From A Certain Rich Man by William Allen White
Had she suffered his flickering life to die out altogether, while she had been dallying with temptation?
From Brought Home by Hesba Stretton
