/dol"ee vahr"dn/
1. a woman's costume of the late 19th century, including a flower-trimmed, broad-brimmed hat and a dress consisting of a tight bodice and bouffant panniers in a flower print over a calf-length quilted petticoat.
2. the hat of this costume.
3. the dress of this costume.
4. Ichthyol. Also called bull trout, Dolly Varden trout . a char, Salvelinus malma, inhabiting fresh and marine waters of western North America and eastern Asia.
5. Newfoundland. a large earthenware drinking cup used on fishing vessels.
[ 1870-75; costume named after a colorfully dressed character in Dickens' Barnaby Rudge (1841); applied to fish in allusion to its coloring ]