Dolly Varden

Definitions

  • Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Dolly Varden A character in Dickens's novel “Barnaby Rudge,” a beautiful, lively, and coquettish girl who wore a cherry-colored mantle and cherry-colored ribbons.
    • Dolly Varden A style of light, bright-figured dress goods for women; also, a style of dress.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Dolly Varden dol′i vär′den, a flowered muslin dress for women, with pointed bodice and tucked-up skirt: a large hat, one side bent downwards, abundantly trimmed with flowers.
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Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Named from Dolly Varden, a character in Dickens's Barnaby Rudge.

Usage

In literature:

The instinct is not confined solely to Beau Brummels and Dolly Vardens.
"Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" by Jerome K. Jerome
A much-speckled hen is Dolly Varden.
"The Mutiny of the Elsinore" by Jack London
DOLLY VARDEN, daughter of Gabriel Varden, locksmith.
"Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1" by The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.
THE DOLLY VARDEN POLKA.
"Charles Dickens and Music" by James T. Lightwood
But a Dolly Varden isn't a trout at all, it's really a char.
"The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries" by Francis Rolt-Wheeler
One time dey was Dolly Vardens, and dey was so pretty us kep' 'em for our Sunday bes' dresses.
"Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States" by Work Projects Administration
Dolly Varden was a character in Dickens' "Barnaby Rudge", a pretty girl in flowered hats and skirts.
"The Romance of Names" by Ernest Weekley
Julie was arrested while blackberrying in a Dolly Varden hat.
"Terribly Intimate Portraits" by Noël Coward
In May, 1903, a Dolly Varden of 15lb.
"Fishing in British Columbia" by Thomas Wilson Lambert
The first witness to tell all the bad she knew about Hal was his sister Alice's little Dolly Varden.
"Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad" by Various
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In poetry:

"I know not what temptress first came to my garden
Of Eden, and lured me stern wisdom to leave;
But I rather believe that a sweet 'Dolly Varden'
Came into my rooms on a soft summer eve.
"A Romance In Real (Academic) Life" by E W Bowling

In news:

Fall Dolly Varden decked out in spawning colors.
flyrodreel.com
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