D d

 

dab   -   a dip, a small wash 

dab-hand   -   an expert 

dadkin, "..to a dadkin"     -    characteristic or typical of ...                                                 "That's our Polly to a dadkin" 

daffadaindilly   -   a daffodil

dag   -      to wet the petticoat or the bottom of the trousers 

daggly   -     wet, dewy "'Twas daggly i'th'morning" 

dainfaw    -      downfall, a downpour of rain or snow 

dallack   -    to dally "dallackin' yur time awee"

dander / donder   -    wander about in location or in                                                conversation, digress

dandy   -   a bantam, "He struts abowt like a dandy-cock" 

dark    -     blind 

deavely    -     lonely, unfrequented (deathly?)

deck   -    to give up, leave off. (a bit like "jack it in") 

deegle   -    to pilfer, steal. Also a name for a stolen marble 

deitchbonk    -     hedge bank running up from a ditch                                         (ditchbank) 

delf    -    coal-pit (a word used on the Staffordshire border)

demath    -    an acre of land - literally a "daymath" or day's                         mowing for one man 

derry-dain, "With a up an' a derry-dain"   -    Up and down 

despert   -     very, extremely "Hoo's a despert pratty wench"                     or "She's a very pretty girl" 

dew mug   -    a large earthenware pan-mug

dibble    -     to make holes in the ground with a dibbler, or                          setting stick, for sowing seeds, or planting                              potatoes. 

dibbler   -      a stick with three wooden prongs used for                             making holes in the ground. Also called a dibbin-                     stick. 

Dick's Hatband   -   a phrase: "As queer as Dick's hatband" 

dicky daisy   -    a daisy

Dicky Dout   -   a person whose shirt is visible below the                                waistcoat: Dicky, Dicky Dout, Your shirt hangs                        out, Four yards in an' five yards out! 

ding-dong  -    great, extraordinary, startling 

dinge   -    a dent in something from being knocked 

dish   -    butter was sold by the dish in Nantwich and South                  Cheshire. It is reckoned to be 24 ounces.

dishclait    -    dishcloth 

dishdain     -    disappointment 

dither    -    a shiver 

dithery     -   trembling

*doff   -     pull off (clothes) "doffed 'is cap"

*dooment     -    a stir, cafuffle, trouble

dobbin-wheels   -    the large hind-wheels of a timber cart 

Dodder    -    a weed, also known as toads' grass or beggar's                      needle

doffy    -      cowardly 

dogle     -     a common marble 

dogsleipin     -     'pretending to be asleep (also fox-sleeping) 

dollop    -    a lot, a quantity

Dolly-maukin     -     a poory-dressed woman or girl 

donderyed    -     dunderhead,  blockhead 

dondle      -     to lead, to guide 

dongle    -      an idle or listless way of going about

door-cheiks     -     door posts (door cheeks) 

doorsill    -     threshold, doorstep 

douzlin'    -     a wetting "I got a proper douzlin' in the reen" 

drab   -      a driblet, a very small quantity

drabbly   -     drizzly wet weather 

drazzil, drazzild    -   looking wet, dishevelled, untidy 

dress o'er   -    to tell off 

drony   -    sluggish, slow

drooty    -    dry as in a drought

drumber-hole, drumble    -    an old pit or hole overgrown with                                           grass and weeds 

dumber / dunder dasha   -     rainstorm

duzzy     -      stupid, sleepy (dizzy) (from A.Saxon dysig)

dwaddle     -    to waste "dunna dwaddle yur time awee" 

dwindle   -      to waste 

dwindle-straw      -     any weak or puny creature "He is sich a                                  little dwindle-straw" 

"Dyn sassnach"     -      a Welsh phrase meaning "I don't                                            understand", literally "No English"