dillyn.1
/ˈdɪli/, U.S. /ˈdɪli/ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > public service vehicle > [noun] > stagecoach or mail coach
posting carriage1556
wagon1615
post-coach1636
stagecoach1658
flying coach1669
stage1671
wagon-coach1675
stage-wagon1681
post-car1694
post-wagon1694
post calash1703
fly1708
post-carriage1720
post-stage1738
diligence1742
flying machine1764
machine1769
mail coach1785
dilly1786
mail stage1792
high-flyer1799
post-equipage1813
post vehicle1815
tally-ho coach1831
mail packeta1837
flying carriage1849
stager1852
mail-hack1909
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > carriage for conveying persons > [noun] > types of carriage > other carriages
dilly1786
telegraph1799
araba1814
station wagon1868
rumbelow1881
1786 H. Mackenzie in Lounger No. 54. 214 A coach with eight insides, besides two boys and their governor in the dilly.
1798 J. H. Frere & G. Canning Loves of Triangles (Anti Jacobin) 179 So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glides The Derby dilly, carrying Three Insides.
1811 E. Lysaght Poems 39 Some to avoid mad care's approaches Fly off in dillies, or mail-coaches.
1818 T. Moore Fudge Family in Paris x. 35 ‘Beginning gay, desperate, dashing down-hilly; And ending as dull as a six-inside Dilly!’
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life I. 93 This always swung at the side of the ‘dilly’ [Note, i.e. diligence].
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles (plying) for hire > [noun] > hackney carriage
hackney coach1618
hell-cart1623
hackney1664
hack1692
fiacre1699
hackney carriage1735
dilly1805
street coach1818
jarvey1819
cab1822
hackney cab1832
gurney1884
cabriolet1907
1805 W. Felton Treat. Carriages (ed. 3) II. App. §8. 14 A simple dilly or chair-box, cained or railed, with springs.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. ix. 107 We sallied forth, and..found all sorts of vehicles ready to take us to the fair. We got into one which they called a dilly.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xi. 65 Dillies.. plied at the Elephant and Castle.
3. Applied dialectally to various carts, trucks, and other wheeled vehicles, used in agriculture and industrial operations.
ΚΠ
1850 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 11 ii. 727 Crops of vegetables..which they carry to the Bristol market in their ‘dillies’ as their light platform carts are called.
1863 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. (new ed.) I. Dilly (West. Eng.), a frame on wheels for carrying teazles and other light matters.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Dilly, a vehicle used for removing manure.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Dilly, A cask on wheels for carrying liquids; a water-cart. Also a low four-wheeled truck on which mowing-machines and other implements are drawn.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words (at cited word) The old engine on the Wylam railway was..called..‘the Wylam dilly’. The counter-balance mounted upon two pairs of tramwheels, by means of which the empty tubs in a pit are carried up an incline, is called a dilly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dillyn.2
colloquial or dialect.
A call to ducks; hence, a nursery name for a duck (also dilly-duck).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun]
endea700
duck967
diga1475
redshank1567
dilly1831
quacker1832
quack1865
quack quack1870
anatine1875
1831 Nightingale in Oxf. Dict. Nursery Rhymes (1980) 91 John Ostler, go fetch me a duckling or two,..Cry, Dilly, dilly, dilly, dilly, come and be killed.
1839 T. Hood Drowning Ducks in Hood's Own 77/2 The tenants..Had found the way to Pick a dilly.
1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley I. xviii. 283 The sweetness and culture of tame dilly-ducks.
1888 B. Lowsley Gloss. Berks. Words & Phrases Dill or Dilly, Call for ducks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
dillyn.3
colloquial.
= daffodilly n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > daffodil and allied flowers > daffodil
daffodilly1538
daffadowndilly1573
yellow crow-bells1578
daffodil1592
Lide-flower1609
Lide-lily1609
trumpet1705
daffy1777
Lent rose1796
chalice-flower1824
Lent lilya1825
Lenten lily1874
dilly1878
Golden Spur1886
trumpet daffodil1895
King Alfred1899
daff1915
bell-rose-
1878 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Dilly, an abbreviation of daffodilly. Derby. White Dillies, i.e. white daffodillies, Narcissus poeticus. Lanc.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
dillyn.4
In wild dilly, a small sapotaceous tree, Mimusops Sieberi, found in the West Indies and on the Florida keys, and yielding a very hard wood.
ΚΠ
1895 C. S. Sargent Silva N. America V. 183 Wild Dilly, discovered on the Bahamas by Mark Catesby. Catesby calls it ‘Sappodillo Tree’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
dillyn.5
/ˈdɪli/, U.S. /ˈdɪli/ slang (originally U.S.).
A delightful, remarkable, or excellent person or thing; frequently ironical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing
carbunclea1350
swanc1386
phoenixc1400
diamondc1440
broocha1464
surmounterc1500
sovereign?a1513
primrose peerless1523
superlative1577
transcendent1593
Arabian birda1616
crack1637
first rate1681
peach1710
phoenicle1711
admiration1717
spanker1751
first-raterc1760
no slouch of1767
nailer1806
tip-topper1822
ripper1825
ripstaver1828
apotheosis1832
clinker1836
clipper1836
bird1839
keener1839
ripsnorter1840
beater1845
firecracker1845
pumpkin1845
screamer1846
stunner1847
bottler1855
beaut1866
bobby-dazzler1866
one out of the box1867
stem-winder1875
corker1877
trimmer1878
hot stuff1884
daisy1886
jim-dandy1887
cracker1891
jim-hickey1895
peacherino1896
pippin1897
alpha plus1898
peacherine1900
pip1900
humdinger1905
bosker1906
hummer1907
good egg1914
superstar1914
the berries1918
bee's knee1923
the cat's whiskers1923
smash1923
smash hit1923
brahma1925
dilly1935
piss-cutter1935
killer1937
killer-diller1938
a hard act to follow1942
peacheroo1942
bitch1946
brammerc1950
hot shit1960
Tiffany1973
bollocks1981
1935 Amer. Mercury June 229/1 Ain't that a dilly (or honey)!
1950 ‘S. Ransome’ Deadly Miss Ashley vi. 65 She looked as if she had had a rugged night of it; but she was easily repairable and still a dilly.
1951 R. S. Prather Bodies in Bedlam vii. 48 In order to get inside you have to pass three guards at three different gates. The first two aren't so tough, but the last one is a dilly if you don't have an appointment.
1958 R. Chandler Playback xix. 159 You're the most impossible man I ever met. And I've met some dillies.
1968 M. Kane Walk of Devil vii. 79 ‘Did you swing it, Jake?’ Berger asked Winthrop... ‘It's a dilly,’ Winthrop said.
1970 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 1 Dec. 9/4 The new [oil] well, also in Norwegian waters, looks a dilly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dillyadj.1
/ˈdɪli/, U.S. /ˈdɪli/, Australian English /ˈdɪli/ dialect or colloquial (chiefly Australian).
(a) (See quot. 1873.) (b) Foolish, stupid, mad.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > [adjective]
dizzyc825
unwisec825
redelessOE
unwittyc1000
daftlikec1175
witlessc1175
canga1225
adoted?c1225
cangun?c1225
egedec1225
cangeda1250
foola1250
snepea1250
aerwittec1275
sotlyc1275
unslyc1275
unwitterc1275
unwilya1300
nicec1300
goosishc1374
unskilfulc1374
follyc1380
lewdc1380
mis-feelinga1382
dottlec1390
foltedc1390
peevishc1400
fona1425
fonnishc1425
foliousa1450
foolisha1450
daft?c1450
doitedc1450
dotyc1450
daffish1470
insapientc1470
gucked?a1500
wanwittya1500
furious1526
insipient1528
seelya1529
dawish?1529
foolage1545
momish1546
base-wittedc1547
stultitiousa1549
follifulc1550
senseless1565
mopish1568
fondish1579
unsensiblea1586
fondly1587
dizzardly1594
follial1596
featlessc1598
fopperly1599
gowkeda1605
inept1604
simple1604
anserine1607
foppish1608
silly ass1608
unsage1608
wisdomless1608
fool-beggeda1616
Gotham1621
noddy1645
badot1653
dosser-headed1655
infrunite1657
nonsensicalc1661
slight1663
sappy1670
datelessa1686
noddy-peaked1694
nizy1709
dottled1772
gypit1804
shay-brained1806
folly-stricken1807
fool-like1811
goosy1811
spoony1813
niddle-noddle1821
gumptionless1823
daftish1825
anserous1826
as crazy as a loon1830
spoonish1833
cheese-headed1836
dotty1860
fool-fool1868
noodly1870
dilly1873
gormless1883
daffy1884
monkey-doodle1886
mosy1887
jay1891
pithecanthropic1897
peanut-headed1906
dinlo1907
boob1911
goofy1921
ding-a-ling1935
jerky1944
jerk1947
jerkish1948
pointy-headed1950
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
nerkish1975
numpty1992
1873 W. P. Williams & W. A. Jones Gloss. Somersetshire 11 Dilly,..cranky, queer.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xvi. 214 Who should come sprintin' upstairs but me nibs, pale's er blessed egg, hair on end—fair dilly.
1908 J. Gunn We of Never-never xiii. 168 Gone clean dilly, I believe.
1915 C. J. Dennis in Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Apr. 43/2 Ther's a Gawd 'Oo's leaning near To watch our dilly little lives down 'ere.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §151/10 Foolish; nonsensical; ridiculous,..dilly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
dillyadj.2
/ˈdɪli/, U.S. /ˈdɪli/ colloquial.
Delightful; delicious.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > quality of causing joy or delight > [adjective]
hightlyOE
delitec1225
joyful1297
delightablec1300
delicatea1382
gladsomec1386
gladdingc1394
delightfula1400
deliciousc1400
delectablec1415
delighting?a1425
delitousa1425
ravishingc1430
joyous1475
delightsomec1484
wealthlya1500
delectary?c1500
sunny1565
sunshine1594
delighted1595
heartsome1596
joysome1616
gladdening1729
scrum1877
heartthrob1907
dilly1909
delish1915
zip-a-dee-doo-dah1945
1909 Punch 26 May 362/1 I sent out the ordinary cards..with ‘Dancing’ in one corner of the card, but in the other corner was ‘Bare feet’. Wasn't it a dilly idea?
1922 C. E. M. Joad Highbrows iii. 103 Have you heard that new waltz, ‘Luscious Love’? It's simply dilly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.11786
n.21831n.31878n.41895n.51935adj.11873adj.21909