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gallivant

verb /ˈɡæl.ɪ.vænt/

  1. To roam about for pleasure without any definite plan.

    intransitive

    Bertram, it is true, when he heard of the plan, rebelled, and asserted that what Billy needed was a rest, an entire rest from care and labor. In fact, what he wanted her to do, he said, was to gallivant – to gallivant all day long.

  2. To flirt, to romance.

    intransitive, obsolete

    'That you never go gallivanting with Chloe again. You both "don't mean anything", but suppose you did happen to get the girl discharged with a very dubious character? Should you see any alternative to behaving either as a fool or a knave to put it right?'

Where it comes from

1809, from gallant (“wooing women”), originally in sense “to flirt”, broadened to mean “roaming without plan”.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry gallivant (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← gallimaufrygallivat →

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