Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

wally en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /ˈwɒli/ (UK)

Meanings

  1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang) A fool.
    • 'Don't be such a wally,' Ruby said. 'Felicity is way smarter than you could ever hope to be.' 2014, Richard Newsome, The House of Puzzles, page 111:
  2. (Essex, London, colloquial) A large pickled gherkin or cucumber.
    • Mushy peas (£1.40) are ... mushy, and wallies (45p) – pickled gherkins to you – come sliced and prettily served in the shape of a flower. 2003, Charles Campion, The Rough Guide to London Restaurants, page 215:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
wallies Number=Plur lexicographic

wally en · ADJ · etymology 2

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, alternative, not-comparable, of eyes) Alternative form of whally
    alt of whally
    • […] one of his eyes was wally, a condition common among the natives of the land. (Here the meaning 'pale' is intended, as indicated later in the text:) […] turned his one black eye on the kindly man […] (p. 183) 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 179:

Relateds

walleye · peely-wally

wally en · VERB · etymology 3

Meanings

  1. (Essex, colloquial, obsolete) Alternative pronunciation (and hence spelling) of value
    • Let them that wallys the sheep watch 'em. 1880, Sabine Baring-Gould, Mehalah: a story of the salt marshes: