See also: Dolly
Contents
- 1 English
- 1.1 Pronunciation
- 1.2 Etymology 1
- 1.2.1 Alternative forms
- 1.2.2 Noun
- 1.2.2.1 Derived terms
- 1.2.2.2 Descendants
- 1.2.2.3 Translations
- 1.2.2.4 See also
- 1.2.3 Verb
- 1.3 Etymology 2
- 1.3.1 Adjective
- 1.4 Etymology 3
- 1.4.1 Noun
- 1.4.1.1 Alternative forms
- 1.4.1 Noun
- 1.5 References
- 1.6 Anagrams
English[edit]
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Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɑli/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɒli/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒli
Etymology 1[edit]
From doll + -y, from the given name Dorothy, originally applied either to a woman or female pet or to a children's toy, and expanded to refer to various types of contrivances or devices.[1] The Online Etymology Dictionary, while considering the reason for applying it to such devices unobvious, compares how the names jack, jenny and jimmy are also applied to devices.[2]
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
dolly (plural dollies)
- (childish, colloquial) A doll.
1867 July 1, S.T.C., “The Harleys of Chelsea Place”, in The Christian Treasury[2], page 344:
‘He pushed one of my dolly’s eyes in,’ sobbed Dora, hugging her dolly as she replied.
- (cooking) A roughly cylindrical wooden object used as a base when molding pie crust.
- A contrivance for stirring:
- A disc with downward legs and a vertical handle, used for agitating laundry.
- Synonym: posser
1840, R. White (Auctioneer), Sale at Woodhouse Place, near Mansfield. Catalogue of the valuable and useful household furniture [etc.], Third Day's Sale. Wednesday, November 4th, 1840:
LAUNDRY.
1 Dolly tub and pegs
2 Mangle
3 Washing machine
1986, Patricia Malcolmson, English Laundresses: A Social History, 1850-1930[3], page 30:
In its most common form, the dolly was a four- or five-legged stool attached to an upright handle about three feet long with a crossbar handle at the top.
- A device turned on a vertical axis by a handle or a winch, giving a circular motion to ore being washed.
1840, Andrew Ure, A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines[4], page 751:
The dolly tub or rinsing bucket, fig. 630., has an upright shaft which bears the vane or dolly a b, turned by the winch handle.
- A disc with downward legs and a vertical handle, used for agitating laundry.
- A tool with an indented head for shaping the head of a rivet.
1864, William Newton, “To Andrew Shanks, of Robert-street, Adelphi, for an improved rivetting machine”, in Newton's London Journal of Arts[5], page 279:
A, is the steam or air cylinder for forcing the dolly B, hard against the rivet head while rivetting: when used for making rivets the dolly B, is unshipped, and the rivet heading apparatus substituted.
- In pile driving, a block interposed between the head of the pile and the ram of the driver.
- A small truck with a single wide roller used for moving heavy beams, columns, etc., in bridge building.
- A small truck without means of steering, to be slipped under a load.
- A compact, narrow-gauge locomotive used for moving construction trains, switching, etc.
- (film) A specialized piece of film equipment resembling a little cart on which a camera is mounted.
- (slang) A young woman, especially one who is frivolous or vapid. [from 1790s][3]
1978, John McGrath, Yobbo nowt, page 39:
But really you get your money from selling things — that's your line, and your Dad's isn't it? Using sexy dollies to con money out of people who've had to work for it. Well my daughter's not just a sugar-plum fairy to titillate men's fantasies, you know.
1996, Billboard, number 45, page 24:
This glorious collection should be passed around clubland as a textbook study in making a seamless transition from being a disco dolly to a serious pop vocalist.
- (slang, UK, dated) A fashionable young woman, one who follows the latest music or clothing fashions. [1960s]
1969 April 8, Prudence Glynn, “246 yards of fashion”, in The Times, page 6:
Spotlight on the other hand is remarkable for prices and skirt lengths to suit the teenyboppers […] Appeal: to a lunchtime horde of date-going dollies who cannot really afford another dress.
- (cricket, dated) A ball hit by a batsman such that it goes gently to a fielder for a simple catch.
- (gambling) A marker placed on the winning number by the dealer at roulette.
- (obsolete) An old gambling device, found in dolly shops, with the figure of an old man or "dolly", and a spiral hole down which a dropped marble would proceed to one of a set of numbered holes.
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- Welsh: doli
Translations[edit]
doll — see doll
contrivance giving a circular motion to ore to be washed
pile driving: block between the head of the pile and the ram of the driver
- Finnish: iskutyyny
small truck
- Arabic: please add this translation if you can
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Finnish: rattaat(fi)pl (term not specific to bridge construction)
- Korean: please add this translation if you can
- Polish: wózek transportowym
- Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
- Russian: та́чка(ru)f (táčka), теле́жка(ru)f (teléžka), до́ллиf (dólli)
- Spanish: please add this translation if you can
compact, narrow-gauge locomotive
filming: camera cart
- Finnish: kameravaunu
- Russian: опера́торская теле́жкаf (operátorskaja teléžka)
cricket: ball that goes gently to a fielder for a simple catch
See also[edit]
- (small truck): hand truck
- (specialized piece of film equipment): tracking shot
Verb[edit]
dolly (third-person singular simple present dollies, present participle dollying, simple past and past participle dollied)
- (transitive, cricket) To hit a dolly.
- (transitive) To move (an object) using a dolly.
- (transitive) To wash (laundry) in a tub using the stirring device called a dolly.
- (transitive) To beat (red-hot metal) with a hammer.
- (transitive) To crush ore with a dolly.
Etymology 2[edit]
Disputed. Most scholars derive the term from doll + -y, as Etymology 1, above.[4][3] Linguist Ian Hanco*ck, however, suggests derivation from Italian dolce (“sweet”).[5]
Adjective[edit]
dolly (comparative more dolly, superlative most dolly)
- (Polari) Pretty; attractive.
1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Bijou Tourettes (Round the Horne), season 3, episode 12:
Divine. Sitting, sipping a tiny drinkette, vadaïng the great butch omis and dolly little palones trolling by, or disporting yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil.
2015 October 12, Adam Lowe, “Poem of the week: Vada That”, in The Guardian[6]:
She minces past the brandy latch / to vada dolly dish for trade, silly / with oomph and taste to park.
- (Yorkshire, especially Sheffield) left-handed (also dolly-handed, dolly-pawed, dolly-posh)[6]
Etymology 3[edit]
Noun[edit]
dolly (plural dollies)
- (India) An offering of fruit or flowers.
1891, Karl August Lentzner, Colonial English, page 65:
In some parts of India the dolly has grown into an extravagance consisting sometimes of bushels of fruit, nuts, and confectionery, with bottles of champagne and liqueurs.
Alternative forms[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ dolly, n.1 Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024), “dolly”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jonathon Green (2024), “dolly”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
- ^ John Hajek (1990), “Parlaree: etymologies and notes”, in Spunti e Ricerche[1]
- ^ Hanco*ck, Ian (1984), “Shelta and Polari”, in Peter Trudgill, editor, Languages in the British Isles, pages 384-403
- ^ Stoddart, Jana; Upton, Clive; Widdowson, J.D.A. (1999), “Sheffield dialect in the 1990s: revisiting the concept of NORMs”, in Urban Voices, London: Arnold, pages 72–89
- ^ dolly, n.2 Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Anagrams[edit]
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