A Dictionary of the English Language
                        A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson
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Dainty (noun)

View Scan · View Transcription · from Page 531

View Scan · View Transcription · from Page 531

Dáinty. n.s.

  1. Something nice or delicate; a delicacy; something of exquisite taste.

    Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful meat. Prov. xxiii. 3.

    A worm breedeth in meal, of the shape of a large white maggot, which is given as a great dainty to nightingales. Bacon.

    She then produc'd her dairy store,
    And unbought dainties of the poor.
    Dryden.

    The shepherd swains, with sure abundance blest,
    In the fat flock, and rural dainties, feast.
    Pope's Odyssey.

  2. A word of fondness formerly in use.

    Why, that's my dainty; I shall miss thee:
    But yet thou shalt have freedom.
    Shakespeare's Tempest.

                    There is a fortune coming
    Towards you, dainty, that will take thee thus,
    And set thee aloft.
    Ben. Johnson's Catiline.

Sources: Bacon, Francis (273) · Dryden, John (563) · Jonson, Ben (48) · Pope, Alexander (290) · The Bible - Proverbs (15) · Shakespeare's Tempest (41)

Search for this word in: American Heritage · Cambridge · Dictionary.com · The Free Dictionary · Longman · Merriam-Webster · OneLook · Wiktionary · Wordnik

Cite this page: Johnson, Samuel. "Dainty (noun)." A Dictionary of the English Language: A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson. Last modified: March 11, 2012. http://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/?p=7057.


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