dolly
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɑli/
ipa: /ˈdɒli/
rhymes: -ɒli
Forms: form: dollies
form: dollie
Etymology: 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. 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.
Senses: examples: text: ‘He pushed one of my dolly’s eyes in,’ sobbed Dora, hugging her dolly as she replied.
ref: 1867 July 1, S.T.C., “The Harleys of Chelsea Place”, in The Christian Treasury, page 344:
glosses: A doll.
topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
glosses: A roughly cylindrical wooden object used as a base when molding pie crust.
examples: text: LAUNDRY.
1 Dolly tub and pegs
2 Mangle
3 Washing machine
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 1986, Patricia Malcolmson, English Laundresses: A Social History, 1850-1930, page 30:
glosses: A contrivance for stirring:
A disc with downward legs and a vertical handle, used for agitating laundry.
synonyms: posser
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1840, Andrew Ure, A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, page 751:
glosses: A contrivance for stirring:
A device turned on a vertical axis by a handle or a winch, giving a circular motion to ore being washed.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1864, William Newton, “To Andrew Shanks, of Robert-street, Adelphi, for an improved rivetting machine”, in Newton's London Journal of Arts, page 279:
glosses: A tool with an indented head for shaping the head of a rivet.
glosses: In pile driving, a block interposed between the head of the pile and the ram of the driver.
glosses: A small truck with a single wide roller used for moving heavy beams, columns, etc., in bridge building.
glosses: A small truck without means of steering, to be slipped under a load.
glosses: An unpowered vehicle (trailer) designed for connection to a tractor unit, truck or prime mover vehicle, with strong traction power.
glosses: A compact, narrow-gauge locomotive used for moving construction trains, switching, etc.
topics: broadcasting
film
media
television
glosses: A specialized piece of film equipment resembling a little cart on which a camera is mounted.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1978, John McGrath, Yobbo nowt, page 39:
text: 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.
ref: 1996, Billboard, number 45, page 24:
glosses: A young woman, especially one who is frivolous or vapid.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1969 April 8, Prudence Glynn, “246 yards of fashion”, in The Times, page 6:
glosses: A fashionable young woman, one who follows the latest music or clothing fashions.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A ball hit by a batsman such that it goes gently to a fielder for a simple catch.
topics: gambling
games
glosses: A marker placed on the winning number by the dealer at roulette.
examples: text: There’s 2d. a week to pay for 1s. at a dolly, and perhaps an old rug left for it; if it’s very hard weather, the rug must be taken at night time, or we are starved with the cold. It sometimes has to be put into the dolly again next morning, and then there’s 2d. to pay for it for the day.
ref: 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
glosses: Ellipsis of dolly shop.
glosses: 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: brolly dolly
corn dolly
crab dolly
desert dolly
dolliness
dolly bird
dolly-bird
dolly blue
dolly-boy
dolly grip
dolly knot
dollyman
dolly mixture
dolly shop
dolly shot
dolly tub
dolly zoom
doughnut dolly
trolley dolly
tube dolly
zolly
Related terms: sense: small truck
word: hand truck
sense: specialized piece of film equipment
word: tracking shot