dilly-dally


Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

dil·ly-dal·ly

 (dĭl′ē-dăl′ē)
intr.v. dil·ly-dal·lied, dil·ly-dal·lying, dil·ly-dal·lies
To waste time, especially in indecision; dawdle or vacillate.

[Reduplication of dally.]

dil′ly-dal′li·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dilly-dally

(ˌdɪlɪˈdælɪ)
vb, -lies, -lying or -lied
(intr) informal to loiter or vacillate
[C17: by reduplication from dally]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dilly-dally


Past participle: dilly-dallied
Gerund: dilly-dallying

Imperative
dilly-dally
dilly-dally
Present
I dilly-dally
you dilly-dally
he/she/it dilly-dallies
we dilly-dally
you dilly-dally
they dilly-dally
Preterite
I dilly-dallied
you dilly-dallied
he/she/it dilly-dallied
we dilly-dallied
you dilly-dallied
they dilly-dallied
Present Continuous
I am dilly-dallying
you are dilly-dallying
he/she/it is dilly-dallying
we are dilly-dallying
you are dilly-dallying
they are dilly-dallying
Present Perfect
I have dilly-dallied
you have dilly-dallied
he/she/it has dilly-dallied
we have dilly-dallied
you have dilly-dallied
they have dilly-dallied
Past Continuous
I was dilly-dallying
you were dilly-dallying
he/she/it was dilly-dallying
we were dilly-dallying
you were dilly-dallying
they were dilly-dallying
Past Perfect
I had dilly-dallied
you had dilly-dallied
he/she/it had dilly-dallied
we had dilly-dallied
you had dilly-dallied
they had dilly-dallied
Future
I will dilly-dally
you will dilly-dally
he/she/it will dilly-dally
we will dilly-dally
you will dilly-dally
they will dilly-dally
Future Perfect
I will have dilly-dallied
you will have dilly-dallied
he/she/it will have dilly-dallied
we will have dilly-dallied
you will have dilly-dallied
they will have dilly-dallied
Future Continuous
I will be dilly-dallying
you will be dilly-dallying
he/she/it will be dilly-dallying
we will be dilly-dallying
you will be dilly-dallying
they will be dilly-dallying
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been dilly-dallying
you have been dilly-dallying
he/she/it has been dilly-dallying
we have been dilly-dallying
you have been dilly-dallying
they have been dilly-dallying
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been dilly-dallying
you will have been dilly-dallying
he/she/it will have been dilly-dallying
we will have been dilly-dallying
you will have been dilly-dallying
they will have been dilly-dallying
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been dilly-dallying
you had been dilly-dallying
he/she/it had been dilly-dallying
we had been dilly-dallying
you had been dilly-dallying
they had been dilly-dallying
Conditional
I would dilly-dally
you would dilly-dally
he/she/it would dilly-dally
we would dilly-dally
you would dilly-dally
they would dilly-dally
Past Conditional
I would have dilly-dallied
you would have dilly-dallied
he/she/it would have dilly-dallied
we would have dilly-dallied
you would have dilly-dallied
they would have dilly-dallied
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.dilly-dally - postpone doing what one should be doing; "He did not want to write the letter and procrastinated for days"
delay - act later than planned, scheduled, or required; "Don't delay your application to graduate school or else it won't be considered"
procrastinate - postpone or delay needlessly; "He procrastinated the matter until it was almost too late"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

dilly-dally

verb
To go or move slowly so that progress is hindered:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

dilly-dally

[ˈdɪlɪdælɪ] VI
1. (= loiter) → entretenerse, demorarse
2. (= hesitate) → andarse con titubeos
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dilly-dally

[ˌdɪliˈdæli] vitraînasser, lambiner
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dilly-dally

vi (over work etc) → trödeln; (when walking also) → bummeln; without dilly-dallyingohne zu trödeln/bummeln; no dilly-dallying!ein bisschen dalli!
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dilly-dally

[ˈdɪlɪˌdælɪ] vi (fam) → gingillarsi
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

dilly-dally

(diliˈdӕli) verb
to waste time especially by stopping often. She's always dilly-dallying on the way to school.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in periodicals archive ?
"Knut is ready to sit with TSC and discuss how to fully implement the orders of the court with regard to promotion of teachers, redeployment of union officials who had been transferred to schools outside their branches, and all the other issues as directed by the judge," said Mr Sossion.He said the commission should not dilly-dally with the implementation but endeavour to set up the meeting.
Being a responsible person, I am sure that you would not dilly-dally and talk about the weather or other insubstantial matters.
With Floyd Mayweather continuing to dilly-dally about his future in a boxing ring, the 40-year-old Pacquiao is looking elsewhere for a dance partner for a July fight.
Grace Poe urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) not to 'dilly-dally' and just perform its task with regards to the third telecommunications (telco) player in the country.
Any dilly-dally would suit twinkly old dilly-donger Claudio Ranieri and Fulham, who went away and held both Liverpool and Manchester City to 2-0 last month.
After dilly-dally with information, concerning Botswana's 400 metre runner, Lydia Jele doping saga, Botswana National Olympic Committee(BNOC) has finally admitted that the athletes was provisional suspended.
"We shall also issue fresh tenders and invite more companies to take up the sanitation work and make our sanitation contracts more stringent that will compel the contractors to work and not dilly-dally lifting of the garbage.
Good news, bad news and worse news came out of the United States Postal Service and Congress last week, as the service said publishers could count digital subscriptions on their annual statements of ownership, a proposal to give a direct mail firm a huge discount moved to its next step of consideration and the House of Representatives continued to dilly-dally on postal reform legislation.
Deliberately illustrated and written this book shouldn't dilly-dally on its way to pre-K libraries and Head Start schools.
A positive reading, Now to continue my trip, No time to dilly-dally, Ta-ta and toodle-pip.
ANNA Friel doesn't dilly-dally with that old three-date rule.