dido

¹ American  

[dahy-doh] / ˈdaɪ doʊ /

noun

Informal.

plural

didos, didoes

1. a mischievous trick; prank; antic.

2. a bauble or trifle.

---

Dido ² American  

[dahy-doh] / ˈdaɪ doʊ /

noun

1. Phoenician Elissa.  Classical Mythology. a queen of Carthage who killed herself when abandoned by Aeneas.

2. a female given name.

---

Dido ¹ British  

/ ˈdaɪdəʊ /

noun

1. classical myth a princess of Tyre who founded Carthage and became its queen. Virgil tells of her suicide when abandoned by her lover Aeneas

---

dido ² British  

/ ˈdaɪdəʊ /

noun

1. an antic; prank; trick

---

Dido Cultural  

1. In Roman mythology, the founder and queen of Carthage in north Africa. She committed suicide in grief over the departure of her lover, the hero Aeneas.

---

Discover More

Dido is an image of the unhappy or unrequited lover.

Etymology

Origin of dido

First recorded in 1800–10; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, cut a dainty diplomatic dido by feeding a hungry naturalized Briton�"Flag," the fawn star of The Yearling, which had been presented to a London zoo.

From Time Magazine Archive

"If the brute had cut up such a dido under your bed, you would have been as 'turnal sceared as I was."

From Life in the Clearings versus the Bush by Moodie, Susanna

Perhaps you don't think she means it when she goes to every 'tea' and 'recital' and 'at home' and crazy dido from here to Beersheba and back.

From Cap'n Dan's Daughter by Lincoln, Joseph Crosby

Three times that night she woke in the bed with her curl-papers crackling for very fright; and the fourth time 'twas at the sound of a real dido below stairs.

From News from the Duchy by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

We'll go there together, Dave, and cut a dido.'

From Menotah A Tale of the Riel Rebellion by Henham, Ernest G.