loll
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /lɒl/
ipa: /lɑl/
rhymes: -ɒl
Forms: form: lolls
form: lolling
form: lolled
form: lolled
Etymology: From Middle English lollen, lullen (“to lounge idly, hang loosely”), of uncertain origin; the Middle English Dictionary suggests a derivation from Middle Dutch lollen, lullen (“to doze; to mumble, talk nonsense”), though the words could merely be cognate. Compare modern Dutch lol (“fun”)), Icelandic lolla (“to act lazily”). See also lull.
Senses: examples: text: And think'ſt thou, Jove himſelf, with Patience then / Can hear a Pray'r condemn'd by wicked Men? / That, void of Care, he lolls ſupine in State, / And leaves his Bus'neſs to be done by Fate?
ref: 1726, Aulus Persius Flaccus; John Dryden, transl., “The Second Satyr”, in The Satyrs of Aulus Persius Flaccus. Made English by Mr. Dryden, published in The Satyrs of Decimus Junius Juvenalis: And of Aulus Persius Flaccus. Translated into English Verse by Mr. Dryden, and Several Other Eminent Hands. To which is Prefix’d a Discourse concerning the Original and Progress of Satyr, 5th edition, London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson, at Shakespear's Head over-against Catherine-street in the Strand, →OCLC, page 251
text: The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but [Ice Age:] Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.
ref: 2012 July 12, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2014:
text: Liv's head lolled to the side and rested on his shoulder.
ref: 2015, Mary Davis, chapter 8, in Winning Olivia’s Heart (Heartsong Presents; HP1145), New York, N.Y.: Love Inspired Books, →ISBN, page 104:
glosses: To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
examples: text: Nor thy reſiſtleſs Arm the Bull withſtood: / Nor He the roaring Terror of the Wood. / The triple Porter of the Stygian seat, / With lolling Tongue, lay fawning at thy Feet: / And, ſeiz'd with Fear, forgot his mangled Meat.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Eighth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, pages 445–446, lines 396–400:
text: Crouching on its stomach, the dog moved with him, teeth glittering, tongue lolling.
ref: 1975, Susan Cooper, “Cadfan’s Way”, in The Grey King (The Dark Is Rising Sequence; 4), London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2007 May, →ISBN, part 1 (The Golden Harp), page 21:
glosses: To hang extended from the mouth, like the tongue of an animal heated from exertion.
examples: text: The ox stood lolling in the furrow.
text: The combatants with rage most horrible
Strove, and their eyes started with cracking stare,
And impotent their tongues they lolled into the air,
Flaccid and foamy, like a mad dog’s hanging; […]
ref: 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 267:
text: [W]hen he saw the hundreds of heads of cattle lolling their greedy way through his grass, he ran towards them wildly, waving his arms, screaming.
ref: 2011 September, Anna Solomon, chapter 30, in The Little Bride: A Novel, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, →ISBN, page 307:
glosses: To let (the tongue) hang from the mouth.
Synonyms: sense: to act lazily or indolently
word: relax
sense: to act lazily or indolently
word: slack
sense: to act lazily or indolently
word: slacken
Derived terms: aloll
loll about
loll around
loller