adj
Meaning 1
Black as coal.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
colly
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɒli/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /ˈkɑli/
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homophone: collie
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homophone: cauli
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CMU ARPABET: K AA1 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Soot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A blackbird
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Alternative spelling of collie.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative, dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To make black, as with coal.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
make soiled, filthy, or dirty
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- don't soil your clothes when you play outside!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dirty, soil, begrime, grime, bemire
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: change, alter, modify
Narrower terms: foul, pollute, contaminate, smear, slime, muddy, muddy up, splash, mire, muck, mud, muck up, crock, blemish, spot
History
Etymology
From Middle English coly, from Old English *coliġ, from Proto-West Germanic *kolig, equivalent to coal + -y. Doublet of coaly.
From Middle English *colien, variant of *colwen (attested in Middle English colwed and colwinge), from Old English *colgian. More at collow.
Across languages
Translations
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Czech: černit — to make black, as with coal
- Czech: začernit — to make black, as with coal
- Russian: придава́ть чёрный цвет (čórnyj) — to make black, as with coal