loll

Etymology

, Jeunes filles de Sparte (Young Women of Sparta, between 1868 and 1870), from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, US. The woman in the foreground is depicted lolling on an animal skin.]] From Middle English lollen, lullen (“to lounge idly, hang loosely”), of uncertain origin; the Middle English Dictionary suggests a derivation from Middle Dutch lollen, lullen (“to doze; to mumble, talk nonsense”), though the words could merely be cognate. Compare modern Dutch lol (“fun”)), Icelandic lolla (“to act lazily”). See also lull.

verb

1. (intransitive) To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
   And think'ſt thou, Jove himſelf, with Patience then / Can hear a Pray'r condemn'd by wicked Men? / That, void of Care, he lolls ſupine in State, / And leaves his Bus'neſs to be done by Fate? 1726, Aulus Persius Flaccus; John Dryden, transl., “The Second Satyr”, in The Satyrs of Aulus Persius Flaccus. Made English by Mr. Dryden, published in The Satyrs of Decimus Junius Juvenalis: And of Aulus Persius Flaccus. Translated into English Verse by Mr. Dryden, and Several Other Eminent Hands. To which is Prefix’d a Discourse concerning the Original and Progress of Satyr, 5th edition, London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson, at Shakespear's Head over-against Catherine-street in the Strand, →OCLC, page 251
   The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but [Ice Age:] Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled. 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2014-03-25
   Liv's head lolled to the side and rested on his shoulder. 2015, Mary Davis, chapter 8, in Winning Olivia’s Heart (Heartsong Presents; HP1145), New York, N.Y.: Love Inspired Books, page 104
2. (intransitive) To hang extended from the mouth, like the tongue of an animal heated from exertion.
   Crouching on its stomach, the dog moved with him, teeth glittering, tongue lolling. 1975, Susan Cooper, “Cadfan’s Way”, in The Grey King (The Dark Is Rising Sequence; 4), London: Chatto & Windus; republished New York, N.Y.: Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2007 May, part 1 (The Golden Harp), page 21
3. (transitive, intransitive) To let (the tongue) hang from the mouth in this way.
   The ox stood lolling in the furrow.
   [W]hen he saw the hundreds of heads of cattle lolling their greedy way through his grass, he ran towards them wildly, waving his arms, screaming. 2011 September, Anna Solomon, chapter 30, in The Little Bride: A Novel, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, page 307