3 entries under this word

Trifle

Trī'fle, n.

noun

(trī'fl), n. [See infra.] 1. A thing of very little value or importance. “With such poor trifles playing.” Drayton.

Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmation strong As proofs of Holy Writ. Shak.

Moments make the year, and trifles life. Young.

Sense 2. A dish composed of alternate layers of sweetmeats and cake, with syllabub.

Sense 3. A certain sort of cake.

Trī'fle, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. TRIFLED; p. pr. & vb. n. TRIFLING.] [O. D. treyfelen, to trifle. Cf. A.-S. trifelan, trifolian, tribulan, to break, grind, pound.] To act or talk without seriousness, gravity, weight, or dignity; to act or talk with levity; to indulge in light amusements.

They trifle, and they beat the air about nothing which toucheth us. Hooker.

To trifle with, to play the fool with; to treat without respect or seriousness; to mock; as, to trifle with one's feelings, or with sacred things.

Trī'fle, v. t.

verbtransitive
  1. To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle. [Obs.]
  2. To spend in vanity; to waste to no good purpose; as, to trifle away time.