lollygag

• lallygag, lollygog, lalligag, lolligag

By surface analysis, lolly (“fool, tongue”) +‎ gag (“fool around”). Compare lollypoop. Cited in American dialects from 1871^[1] and attested since at least 1859.^[2]

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɒlɪɡæɡ/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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lollygag (third-person singular simple present lollygags, present participle lollygagging, simple past and past participle lollygagged)

1. (US) To dawdle; to be lazy or idle; to avoid necessary work or effort.

   Synonyms: dawdle, shirk, slack, procrastinate; see also Thesaurus:shirk

   • 1993, Secret of Mana (fantasy):

     Stop lollygagging! […] He ate ALL the ship's food! 'Zat your friend? Show him outta here!

   • 1889, Albany Law Journal, page 79:

     Now this plaintiff thinks how poor he hereafter will have to live, for the sake of old Green's having a fine fat woman to lollygag with.

2. (US, dated, 19th-20th centuries) To fool around, especially sexually.
   • 1946, Captain C. F. Behrens, MC, USN, quoted in Time Magazine, volume 47, part 1, page 74, 1946:

     Lovemaking and lollygagging are hereby strictly forbidden. […] The holding of hands, osculation and constant embracing of WAVES, corpsmen or civilians and sailors or any combination of male and female personnel is a violation of naval discipline. […]

3. (US, dated, 19th-20th centuries) To effusively (often excessively) display affection.
   • 1912, Dialect Notes. Vol III (1905-1912). Publication of the American Dialect Society., page 582:

     At the fair the other day George and Sue were lollygagging around like two sick kittens.

lollygag (countable and uncountable, plural lollygags)

1. (uncountable, US) Silliness, nonsense.

   He likes to do his car up with blacked-out windows, and all that lollygag.

2. (countable, dated, US) A useless or worthless person or thing.

   The lallygag strolls down the road that leads to Failureville.

• Dictionary of American Slang