dilly-dally
verb🔊/ˈdɪli dæli/
🔊/ˈdɪli dæli/
[intransitive] (old-fashioned, informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they dilly-dally | 🔊/ˈdɪli dæli/ 🔊/ˈdɪli dæli/ |
| he / she / it dilly-dallies | 🔊/ˈdɪli dæliz/ 🔊/ˈdɪli dæliz/ |
| past simple dilly-dallied | 🔊/ˈdɪli dælid/ 🔊/ˈdɪli dælid/ |
| past participle dilly-dallied | 🔊/ˈdɪli dælid/ 🔊/ˈdɪli dælid/ |
| -ing form dilly-dallying | 🔊/ˈdɪli dæliɪŋ/ 🔊/ˈdɪli dæliɪŋ/ |
to take too long to do something, go somewhere or make a decision 磨蹭；犹豫 Don’t dilly-dally on the way home from school. 不要在放学回家的路上大喊大叫。
More Like This Reduplicative wordsReduplicative wordsWord Originearly 17th cent.: reduplication of dally.