dally

He did not dally, perhaps mindful of what had happened the night before.

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026

If you dally as the clock approaches 2 p.m. on Sunday, you will see that Jerson Osorio’s team can unbuild a city as fast as they can build one.

From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2024

Don’t dally until it becomes an established problem to deal with.

From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2023

To Williams, the comment was an acknowledgment of how quickly the 49ers’ pass rush was getting pressure, and Wentz didn’t want Williams to dally while reading the defense.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2022

At first she cackled softly and ran at the indistinct shadows of barrels and wheelbarrows, pretending they were monsters rearing out of the mist, but she was too accustomed to caution to dally for long.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

The author gallops through vital moments in world history across the centuries but dallies over what seem like niche aspects of medieval French history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Nightmare for stand-in Dons captain Angus MacDonald as he dallies on the ball and is dispossessed by Kyogo Furuhashi.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024

In the second act, she goes to Vassar, dallies with a fellow student and with a publisher — thoroughly modern Millay — and then Mr. Scanlan’s interest in chronology, never very strong, gives up altogether.

From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2018

BST10:12 11 min: Gosling dallies in midfield, and Villa come away with it.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 8, 2015

He never dallies on the surface; mere traditionalism has but a slight hold of him. 

From Pascal by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Rennes midfielder Quentin Merlin dallied deep in his own area and was ambushed by Timothy Weah who passed to Amine Gouiri.

From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026

It, along with its sibling, had stood empty for nearly 25 years, as local, county and Navy authorities dallied on what to do with them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023

Two minutes later though, Carreras dallied over a clearing kick to allow Dan to charge down, gather up and take revenge and restore England's advantage at 23-17.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2023

After the fourth try, scored by Etzebeth, made it 26-25, Dupont dallied on the ball and got knocked back as South Africa won a penalty and went further ahead.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 15, 2023

“Well, I’ve dallied enough. I must attend to my mother.”

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

At Ojai, Lewis wistfully performed the solo prelude off in Libbey Park shrubbery as if a dallying forest spirit summoning ghosts of festivals past.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

He must surely know by now - but this needless dallying around the edge of the subject is now becoming faintly farcical.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024

In doing so, McAfee showed he’s not one for dallying, setting the trial 11 days before the Nov. 3 deadline.

From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2023

Klopp empowers his players to think for themselves: the iconic winning goal against Barcelona in last year’s Champions League semifinal came from the squad’s observation that its opponent was dallying during set pieces.

From New York Times ● Jun. 26, 2020

“Pass me your quizzes, everyone—and no dallying, please. A stitch in time saves time, you know.”

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart