shilly-shallying
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shilly-shallying — shillˈy shallying noun • • • Main Entry: ↑shilly shally * * * shilly shallying noun [singular] Congress should stop all the shilly shallying and just vote. • • • Main Entry: ↑shilly shally … Useful english dictionary
shilly shallying — Synonyms and related words: caution, cautious, cautiousness, dalliance, dallying, dawdling, delaying, demurring, diffidence, diffident, dilatoriness, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, equivocation, falter, faltering, fluctuating, fluctuation,… … Moby Thesaurus
shilly-shally — shilly shallier, n. /shil ee shal ee/, v., shilly shallied, shilly shallying, n., pl. shilly shallies, adj., adv. v.i. 1. to show indecision or hesitation; be irresolute; vacillate. 2. to waste time; dawdle. n. 3. irresolution; indecision;… … Universalium
shilly-shally — [shil′ē shal΄ē] adv. [redupl. of shall I? meaning “shall I or shall I not?”] Now Rare in a vacillating manner; irresolutely n. Now Rare vacillation or irresolution, esp. over a trivial matter vi. shilly shallied, shilly shallying to be… … English World dictionary
shilly-shally — [[t]ʃɪ̱li ʃæ̱li[/t]] shilly shallies, shilly shallying, shilly shallied VERB: usu cont (disapproval) If you say that someone is shilly shallying, you disapprove of the fact that they are hesitating when they should make a decision. [INFORMAL] It… … English dictionary
shilly-shally — UK [ˈʃɪlɪ ˌʃælɪ] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms shilly shally : present tense I/you/we/they shilly shally he/she/it shilly shallies present participle shilly shallying past tense shilly shallied past participle shilly shallied informal to… … English dictionary
shilly-shally — verb (shilly shallies, shilly shallying, shilly shallied) be indecisive. noun indecisive behaviour. Derivatives shilly shallyer (also shilly shallier) noun Origin C18: orig. as shill I, shall I, reduplication of shall I? … English new terms dictionary
shilly-shally — I. adverb Etymology: irregular reduplication of shall I Date: 1700 in an irresolute, undecided, or hesitating manner II. adjective Date: 1734 irresolute, vacillating III. intransitive verb (shilly shallied; shilly shallying) … New Collegiate Dictionary
shilly-shally — shil|ly shal|ly [ˈʃıli ˌʃæli] v past tense and past participle shilly shallied present participle shilly shallying third person singular shillyshallies [i]informal [Date: 1700 1800; Origin: shall I?; probably influenced by dilly dally] to waste… … Dictionary of contemporary English
shilly-shally — v 1. vacillate, yo yo, seesaw, teeter totter; waver, be indecisive, be irresolute, hesitate, hem and haw; go back and forth, fluctuate, oscillate, alternate, blow hot and cold, tergiversate, straddle the fence. n 2. irresolution, indecision,… … A Note on the Style of the synonym finder
