gallivant — 1809, probably a playful elaboration of GALLANT (Cf. gallant) in an obsolete verbal sense of play the gallant, flirt, gad about. Related: Gallivanted; gallivanting. Young Lobski said to his ugly wife, I m off till to morrow to fish, my life; Says … Etymology dictionary
Gallivant — Gal li*vant, v. i. [From {Gallant}.] To play the beau; to wait upon the ladies; also, to roam about for pleasure without any definite plan. [Slang] Dickens. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
gallivant — *wander, stray, roam, ramble, rove, range, prowl, gad, traipse, meander … New Dictionary of Synonyms
gallivant — [v] run around, gad about cruise, jaunt, meander, mooch, ramble, range, roam, rove, stray, traipse, wander; concepts 149,224 Ant. behave … New thesaurus
gallivant — ► VERB informal ▪ go from place to place seeking pleasure and entertainment. ORIGIN perhaps from GALLANT(Cf. ↑gallantly) … English terms dictionary
gallivant — [gal′ə vant΄] vi. [arbitrary elaboration of GALLANT] 1. Archaic to gad about with members of the opposite sex 2. to go about in search of amusement or excitement gallivanter n … English World dictionary
gallivant — verb /ˈɡæl.ɪ.vænt,ˈɡæl.ɪ.vænt,ˌɡæl.əˈvænt/ To roam about for pleasure without any definite plan. 1914 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 … Wiktionary
gallivant — UK [ˈɡælɪˌvænt] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms gallivant : present tense I/you/we/they gallivant he/she/it gallivants present participle gallivanting past tense gallivanted past participle gallivanted informal old fashioned to go from place… … English dictionary
gallivant — gal|li|vant [ˈgælıvænt] v [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: Perhaps from gallant] [i]informal to spend time enjoying yourself and going from place to place for pleasure used humorously in order to show disapproval gallivant about/around ▪ She should be… … Dictionary of contemporary English
gallivant — verb (I) informal or humorous to spend time enjoying yourself and going from place to place for pleasure: gallivant about/around: She spent six months gallivanting around Europe … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
gallivant — also galavant intransitive verb Etymology: perhaps alteration of 3gallant Date: 1823 1. to go about usually ostentatiously or indiscreetly with members of the opposite sex 2. to travel, roam, or move about for pleasure … New Collegiate Dictionary