Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Informal A child's doll.
  • noun A low mobile platform that rolls on casters, used for transporting heavy loads.
  • noun Such a platform as used by one working underneath a motor vehicle.
  • noun A hand truck.
  • noun A wheeled apparatus used to transport a movie camera steadily along the ground or along a track.
  • noun A movie shot made by a camera moving steadily on a dolly; a tracking shot.
  • noun A small locomotive, as for use in a railroad yard or on a construction site.
  • noun A wooden implement for stirring clothes in a washtub.
  • noun A tool used to hold one end of a rivet while the opposite end is being hammered to form a head.
  • noun A small piece of wood or metal placed on the head of a pile to prevent damage to the pile while it is being driven.
  • intransitive verb To move a dolly in a specified direction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as doll.
  • noun A doll. See doll.
  • noun In India, a complimentary offering of fruit and flowers, sweetmeats, and the like, usually presented on trays or brass dishes.
  • noun A machine for washing pieces of cloth.
  • In mining, to concentrate or dress (ore) by the use of the dolly.
  • noun In mining, the flat disk of wood which moves up and down in the keeve or dolly-tub in the process of concentrating ore by tossing and packing. See toss.
  • noun In pile-driving, an extension-piece placed on the upper end of a pile, when the head of the pile is beyond the reach of the monkey.
  • noun A tool with an indented head for shaping the head of a rivet; a snap-head.
  • noun A primitive form of apparatus for clothes-washing, consisting of a wooden disk furnished with from three to five legs with rounded ends, and a handle with a cross-piece rising from the center.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Mining) A contrivance, turning on a vertical axis by a handle or winch, and giving a circular motion to the ore to be washed; a stirrer.
  • noun (Mach.) A tool with an indented head for shaping the head of a rivet.
  • noun In pile driving, a block interposed between the head of the pile and the ram of the driver.
  • noun A small truck with a single wide roller used for moving heavy beams, columns, etc., in bridge building.
  • noun A compact, narrow-gauge locomotive used for moving construction trains, switching, etc.
  • noun A child's mane for a doll.
  • noun [England] a shop where rags, old junk, etc., are bought and sold; usually, in fact, an unlicensed pawnbroker's shop, formerly distinguished by the sign of a black doll.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A contrivance, turning on a vertical axis by a handle or winch, and giving a circular motion to the ore to be washed; a stirrer.
  • noun A tool with an indented head for shaping the head of a rivet.
  • noun In pile driving, a block interposed between the head of the pile and the ram of the driver.
  • noun A small truck with a single wide roller used for moving heavy beams, columns, etc., in bridge building.
  • noun A compact, narrow-gauge locomotive used for moving construction trains, switching, etc.
  • noun film A specialized piece of film equipment resembling a little cart on which a camera is mounted.
  • noun colloquial : A child's name for a doll.
  • noun cricket A ball hit by a batsman such that it goes gently to a fielder for a simple catch.
  • noun a doll
  • verb transitive, cricket To hit a dolly.
  • verb To move an object using a dolly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small replica of a person; used as a toy
  • noun conveyance consisting of a wheeled support on which a camera can be mounted
  • noun conveyance consisting of a wheeled platform for moving heavy objects

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • What do you wish me to know, Dolly?

    Is there something to me you would show?

    Your secret garden's a-grow, Dolly.

    At night in your sleep don't you know?

    You're a secret garden a-glow, Dolly.

    Special sunshine for me far below.

    Glistening, glimmering so, Dolly.

    Your sun-shower shared, ne'er to go.

    This missive of mine to you, Dolly.

    More shrouds than reveals, 'tis true.

    For the words are just maps for the real, Dolly.

    Whole landscapes of Truth they conceal.

    Now look for what eyes cannot see, Dolly.

    For your learning shall not set you free.

    Mistake not for the forest, a tree, Dolly.

    You must see that you see what you see.

    Yes, a secret garden so fair, Dolly.

    With its fragrance a-float in the air.

    It's where weary travelers hear, Dolly.

    Your lovely, lullaby laughter...drawing near.

    May 4, 2008