dally — ONAD · Shobdo

dally /ˈdalē, ˈdæli

▸ verb

(dallies, dallying, dallied)

[no object]

1 act or move slowly:

workers were loafing, dallying, or goofing off.

2 have a casual romantic or sexual liaison with:

he should stop dallying with movie stars.

▪ show a casual interest in something, without committing oneself seriously:

the company has been dallying with the idea of opening a new office.

– DERIVATIVES
dallier

– ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French dalier‘to chat’, of unknown origin.