dally
verb (used without object)
to waste time; loiter; delay.
had dallied
-
past perfectof dally.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
Darwin had begun work on the text that became On the Origin of Species in the early 1840s, but had dallied over it.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 12, 2011
Since then, for 28 days they had dallied in London and Lausanne under the sympathetic eye of Michael's Mama, Queen Helen, while Michael shyly pursued his quest.
From Time Magazine Archive
Certainly in part: they had yielded to the farm bloc on farm prices, had dallied since February on taxes.
From Time Magazine Archive
They had dallied in the U. S. and crossed the Pacific, which no man has ever spanned by air, in a boat.
From Time Magazine Archive
Augustine had dallied a little with the sect of the Manichees, which appears to have grieved his mother more than his wild life.
From Adventures Among Books by Andrew Lang
