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trifle

Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Trifle \Tri"fle\, n. [OE. trifle, trufle, OF. trufle mockery,
   raillery, trifle, probably the same word as F. truffe
   truffle, the word being applied to any small or worthless
   object. See {Truffle}.]
   1. A thing of very little value or importance; a paltry, or
      trivial, affair.

            With such poor trifles playing.       --Drayton.

            Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmation
            strong As proofs of holy writ.        --Shak.

            Small sands the mountain, moments make year, And
            frifles life.                         --Young.

   2. A dish composed of sweetmeats, fruits, cake, wine, etc.,
      with syllabub poured over it.

Trifle \Tri"fle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Trifled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Trifling}.] [OE. trifelen, truflen. See {Trifle}, n.]
   To act or talk without seriousness, gravity, weight, or
   dignity; to act or talk with levity; to indulge in light or
   trivial 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.

Trifle \Tri"fle\, v. t.
   1. To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle. [Obs.]
      --Shak.

   2. To spend in vanity; to fritter away; to waste; as, to
      trifle away money. ``We trifle time.'' --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

trifle
     n 1: jam-spread sponge cake soaked in wine served with custard
          sauce
     2: a detail that is considered insignificant [syn: {technicality},
         {triviality}]
     3: something of small importance [syn: {triviality}, {trivia},
        {small beer}]

trifle
     v 1: waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently [syn: {piddle},
           {wanton}, {wanton away}, {piddle away}]
     2: act frivolously [syn: {frivol}]
     3: consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She
        plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania" [syn: {dally},
         {play}]
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