GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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Trifle (?), n. [OE. trifle, trufle, OF. trufle mockery, raillery, trifle, probably the same word as F. truffe truffle, the word being applied to any small or worthless object. See Truffle.]
1. A thing of very little value or importance; a paltry, or trivial, affair.
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With such poor trifles playing. Drayton.
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Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous confirmation strong
As proofs of holy writ. Shak.
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Small sands the mountain, moments make year,
And frifles life. Young.
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2. A dish composed of sweetmeats, fruits, cake, wine, etc., with syllabub poured over it.
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Trifle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Trifled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Trifling (?).] [OE. trifelen, truflen. See Trifle, n.] To act or talk without seriousness, gravity, weight, or dignity; to act or talk with levity; to indulge in light or trivial amusements.
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They trifle, and they beat the air about nothing which toucheth us. Hooker.
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To trifle with, to play the fool with; to treat without respect or seriousness; to mock; as, to trifle with one's feelings, or with sacred things.
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Trifle, v. t.
1. To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle. [Obs.] Shak.
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2. To spend in vanity; to fritter away; to waste; as, “to trifle away money”. “We trifle time.” Shak.
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