Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make foul or dirty; grime, as with the smut of coal; blacken.
  • noun See collie.
  • noun The black grime or soot of coal or burned wood.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The black grime or soot of coal.
  • noun A kind of dog. See collie.
  • transitive verb Archaic. To render black or dark, as of with coal smut; to begrime.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective UK, dialect black as coal
  • verb transitive, archaic to make black, as with coal
  • noun UK, dialect Soot.
  • noun UK, dialect A blackbird
  • noun dated Alternative spelling of collie.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make soiled, filthy, or dirty

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cole ("coal") + -y

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word colly.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The Twelve Days of Christmas: four colly birds (=blackbirds), not calling birds.

    December 12, 2008