dizzy

adjective, diz·zi·er, diz·zi·est.

1. having a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall; giddy; vertiginous.
2. bewildered; confused.
3. causing giddiness or confusion: a dizzy height.
4. heedless; thoughtless.
5. Informal. foolish; silly.

verb (used with object), diz·zied, diz·zy·ing.

6. to make dizzy.

noun

1. James (Byron),1931–55, U.S. actor.
2. Jay HannaDizzy, 1911–74, U.S. baseball pitcher.
3. a male given name: from the Old English family name meaning “valley.”

noun

1. Benjamin, 1st Earl of BeaconsfieldDizzy, 1804–81, British statesman and novelist: prime minister 1868, 1874–80.

noun

1. John Birks [burks] /bɜrks/Dizzy, 1917–93, U.S. jazz trumpeter and composer.

adjective -zier or -ziest

1. affected with a whirling or reeling sensation; giddy
2. mentally confused or bewildered
3. causing or tending to cause vertigo or bewilderment
4. informal foolish or flighty

verb -zies, -zying or -zied

5. (tr) to make dizzy

noun

1. the chief administrative official of a college or university faculty
2. (at Oxford and Cambridge universities) a college fellow with responsibility for undergraduate discipline
3. mainly Church of England the head of a chapter of canons and administrator of a cathedral or collegiate church
4. RC Church the cardinal bishop senior by consecration and head of the college of cardinalsSee also rural dean Related adjective: decanal

noun

1. Forest of Dean a forest in W England, in Gloucestershire, between the Rivers Severn and Wye: formerly a royal hunting ground

noun

1. Christopher. See Torvill and Dean
2. James (Byron). 1931–55, US film actor, who became a cult figure; his films include East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause (both 1955). He died in a car crash

noun

1. Dizzy, nickname of John Birks Gillespie. 1917–93, US jazz trumpeter

noun

1. Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. 1804–81, British Tory statesman and novelist; prime minister (1868; 1874–80). He gave coherence to the Tory principles of protectionism and imperialism, was responsible for the Reform Bill (1867) and, as prime minister, bought a controlling interest in the Suez Canal. His novels include Coningsby (1844) and Sybil (1845)

adj.

Old English dysig “foolish, stupid,” from Proto-Germanic *dusijaz (cf. Low German düsig “dizzy,” Dutch duizelen “to be dizzy,” Old High German dusig “foolish,” German Tor “fool,” Old English dwæs, Dutch dwaas “foolish”), perhaps from PIE *dheu- (1) “dust, vapor, smoke; to rise in a cloud” (and related notions of “defective perception or wits”).

Meaning “having a whirling sensation” is from mid-14c.; that of “giddy” is from c.1500 and seems to merge the two earlier meanings. Used of the “foolish virgins” in early translations of Matthew xxv; used especially of blondes since 1870s. Related: Dizzily.

v.

Old English dysigan, from source of dizzy (adj.). Related: Dizzied; dizzying.

n.

early 14c., from Old French deien (12c., Modern French doyen), from Late Latin decanus “head of a group of 10 monks in a monastery,” from earlier secular meaning “commander of 10 soldiers” (which was extended to civil administrators in the late empire), from Greek dekanos, from deka “ten” (see ten). Replaced Old English teoðingealdor. College sense is from 1570s (in Latin from late 13c.).