dilly
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See also: Dilly
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Adjective[edit]
dilly (comparative more dilly, superlative most dilly)
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
dilly (plural dillies)
- Someone or something that is remarkable or unusual.
- 1958, Raymond Chandler, Playback:
- You're the most impossible man I ever met. And I've met some dillies.
- 2013, Andrew Lycett, Ian Fleming, page 301:
- Seriously, I mean it: From Russia, With Love is a real wowser, a lulu, a dilly and a smasheroo.
Etymology 3[edit]
Noun[edit]
dilly (plural dillies)
Etymology 4[edit]
From Somersetshire dialect; perhaps a blend of daft and silly.[1]
Adjective[edit]
dilly (comparative dillier, superlative dilliest)
References[edit]
- ^ James Lambert The Macquarie Australian Slang Dictionary (Sydney: Macquarie Library) 2004, page 63.
Etymology 5[edit]
Contracted from diligence.
Noun[edit]
dilly (plural dillies)
- (dated) A kind of stagecoach.
- 1798, John Hookham Frere, George Canning, The Loves of the Triangles:
- So, down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glides
The Derby dilly, carrying six insides.
- (obsolete, slang) A night cart.
References[edit]
- John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
See also[edit]
- dilly-dally (etymologically unrelated)
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪli
- Rhymes:English/ɪli/2 syllables
- English terms suffixed with -y
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- Australian English
- English dated terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English slang