Dally, dal′i, v.i. to lose time by idleness or trifling: to play: to exchange caresses:—pa.p. dall′ied.—ns. Dall′iance, dallying, toying, or trifling: interchange of embraces: delay; Dall′ier, a trifler. [M. E. dalien, to play; prob. from A.S. dweligan, to err; cf. Ice. dvala, to delay, Dut. dwalen, to err; prob. conn. with dwell.]
Dalmahoy, dal′ma-hoi, n. a bushy bob-wig, worn in the 18th cent. by chemists, &c.
Dalmatian, dal-mā′shun, adj. belonging to Dalmatia, a strip of Austrian territory along the Adriatic.—Dalmatian dog, the spotted coach-dog, resembling the pointer in shape.
Dalmatic, dal-mat′ik, n. a loose-fitting, wide-sleeved ecclesiastical vestment, worn specially by deacons in the R.C. Church, also sometimes by bishops. [Low L. dalmatica, a robe worn by persons of rank in the early Christian centuries, on the pattern of a dress worn in Dalmatia.]
Dalt, dält, n. (Scot.) a foster-child. [Gael. dalta.]
Daltonism, dal′ton-izm, n. colour-blindness: inability to distinguish certain colours.—adj. Daltō′nian. [So called from the chemist John Dalton (1766-1844), who had this infirmity.]
Dam, dam, n. an embankment to restrain water: the water thus confined.—v.t. to keep back water by a bank:—pr.p. dam′ming; pa.p. dammed. [Teut.; Dut. dam, Ger. damm, &c.]
Dam, dam, n. a mother, applied to quadrupeds. [A form of dame.]
Damage, dam′āj, n. hurt, injury, loss: the value of what is lost: (coll.) cost: (pl.) the pecuniary reparation due for loss or injury sustained by one person through the fault or negligence of another.—v.t. to harm.—v.i. to take injury.—adj. Dam′ageable. [O. Fr. damage (Fr. dommage)—L. damnum, loss.]
Daman, dam′an, n. the Syrian hyrax, the cony of the Bible. [Syrian.]