dan|dy

dan|dy¹ «DAN dee», noun, plural -dies, adjective, -di|er, -di|est.

–n.

1. a man who is too careful of his dress and appearance: »

... a silver-haired dandy who showed up at London first nights in a swirling black cape (Time).

SYNONYM(S): fop.

2. Informal. an excellent or first-rate thing: »

That new bike is a dandy.

3. Nautical. a) a type of British yawl having a leg-of-mutton sail on the mast at the stern. b) the tall, narrow after sail or mizzen on such a yawl.

4. an openwork basket or vessel, used either to carry fuel, or to confine fuel in a larger grate, or to hold pig iron in a furnace hearth for preliminary heating.

–adj.

1. of a dandy; too carefully dressed. SYNONYM(S): foppish.

2. Informal. excellent; first-rate: »

He got a dandy new bike.

╂[originally Scottish, perhaps < slang Dandy (diminutive) < Saint Andrew]

dan|dy² «DAN dee», noun.

an infectious fever; dengue; dandy fever.

╂[apparently < dengue + -y³]

dan|dy³ «DAN dee», noun, plural -dies.

in India:

1. a boatman of the Ganges.

2. an ascetic, especially one who carries a staff.

3. a kind of litter consisting of a strong cloth strung like a hammock to a bamboo staff. Also, dandi.

╂[< Hindi ānī]