Fancy \Fan"cy\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fancied}, p. pr. & vb. n. {Fancying}.] 1. To figure to one's self; to believe or imagine something without proof.
If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know. --Locke.
2. To love. [Obs.] --Shak.
Fancy \Fan"cy\ (f[a^]n"s[y^]), n.; pl. {Fancies}. [Contr. fr. fantasy, OF. fantasie, fantaisie, F. fantaisie, L. phantasia, fr. Gr. ???????? appearance, imagination, the power of perception and presentation in the mind, fr. ???????? to make visible, to place before one's mind, fr. ??????? to show; akin to ????, ???, light, Skr. bh[=a]to shine. Cf. {Fantasy}, {Fantasia}, {Epiphany}, {Phantom}.] 1. The faculty by which the mind forms an image or a representation of anything perceived before; the power of combining and modifying such objects into new pictures or images; the power of readily and happily creating and recalling such objects for the purpose of amusement, wit, or embellishment; imagination.
In the soul Are many lesser faculties, that serve Reason as chief. Among these fancy next Her office holds. --Milton.
2. An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea; conceit.
How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companoins making ? --Shak.
3. An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; caprice; whim; impression.
I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children. --Locke.
4. Inclination; liking, formed by caprice rather than reason; as, to strike one's fancy; hence, the object of inclination or liking.
To fit your fancies to your father's will. --Shak.
5. That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.
London pride is a pretty fancy for borders. --Mortimer.
6. A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad. [Obs.] --Shak.
{The fancy}, all of a class who exhibit and cultivate any peculiar taste or fancy; hence, especially, sporting characters taken collectively, or any specific class of them, as jockeys, gamblers, prize fighters, etc.
At a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy. --De Quincey.
Syn: Imagination; conceit; taste; humor; inclination; whim; liking. See {Imagination}.
Fancy \Fan"cy\, v. t. 1. To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to imagine.
He whom I fancy, but can ne'er express. --Dryden.
2. To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners. ``We fancy not the cardinal.'' --Shak.
3. To believe without sufficient evidence; to imagine (something which is unreal).
He fancied he was welcome, because those arounde him were his kinsmen. --Thackeray.
Fancy \Fan"cy\, a. 1. Adapted to please the fancy or taste, especially when of high quality or unusually appealing; ornamental; as, fancy goods; fancy clothes.
2. Extravagant; above real value.
This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants. --Macaulay.
{Fancy ball}, a ball in which porsons appear in fanciful dresses in imitation of the costumes of different persons and nations.
{Fancy fair}, a fair at which articles of fancy and ornament are sold, generally for some charitable purpose.
{Fancy goods}, fabrics of various colors, patterns, etc., as ribbons, silks, laces, etc., in distinction from those of a simple or plain color or make.
{Fancy line} (Naut.), a line rove through a block at the jaws of a gaff; -- used to haul it down.
{Fancy roller} (Carding Machine), a clothed cylinder (usually having straight teeth) in front of the doffer.
{Fancy stocks}, a species of stocks which afford great opportunity for stock gambling, since they have no intrinsic value, and the fluctuations in their prices are artificial.
{Fancy store}, one where articles of fancy and ornament are sold.
{Fancy woods}, the more rare and expensive furniture woods, as mahogany, satinwood, rosewood, etc.
We're not allowing any fancy trading tactics and we're requiring cash up front for any over $10,000," he said.
Downed with a glass of cool Galician apple cider, they make a delicious market-morning snack. EL BOMBERO There is nothing fancy about El Bombero, a small upstairs restaurant overlooking a narrow Santiago street.
The sheriff sent out fancy invitations to the hanging, but the Colorado Supreme Court set the verdict aside on the grounds that the legislature had repealed the death penalty during the time Packer was a fugitive.
Mason got in hot water in September for calling Dinkins "a fancy shvartze with a moustache" while working on the campaign of Dinkins' opponent, Republican Rudolph Giuliani.
That's why State Farm, with its hefty surplus, must mix some fancy footwork to protect its mutual holders with its fighting stance in pursuit of new business.
Even well-to-do officials with fancy apartments and high-ranking posts muttered "disastrous" when asked to evaluate their predicament.
"I remember my father listening to the results on the radio," he recalls over a cup of coffee in a fancy Johannesburg hotel.
The next step is to generate more and better European programs to show on the fancy new sets.
They werepopular in France before Britain, and some fancy versions have been devised.
Clearly, the company's charismatic founder and Dieter Bock, his heir presumptive, fancy new roles to play.
It is becoming something of a tradition for European telecom operators to pay fancy prices for minority stakes in their US counterparts.
The officers wear well-cut fatigues, many sport fancy watches and designer sunglasses.
Our money was almost all spent, and I did not fancy spending Christmas in a Russian hotel. To add to the tension, I discovered the consulate had moved to another building.
"If we have another Earth Day, everybody's going to be doing this," said Jerry Andregg as he stood next to a fancy white garbage truck with four compartments for four separate kinds of garbage and a plastic masher in the middle.
He collected fancy cars, fine wines and attractive real estate.
Ad executives say CBS's moves are no more than fancy bookkeeping that masks price cuts.
The Irish, they're a wee bit more philosophical." Staving off defeat can require some fancy brainwork, especially if the debater stumbles, Rennie said.
So if you fancy a Big Mac in The Hague, is the advice to think twice about it? Burmah Castrol sprinted ahead, closing 11 firmer at 826p after the group's preliminary results came in at the very top end of market expectations.
Nothing is laid-back nowadays at the Hotel California on West Berlin's fancy Kurfuerstendamm.
U.S. food companies, struggling to jump on the gourmet-food wagon, are renewing their efforts to cook up fancy chilled fare.
Four ounces of fancy premium ice cream contain about 300 calories, 22 grams of fat and 85 milligrams of cholesterol.
And he attends to it in his own modest way. He doesn't go in for fancy golf duds, preferring a gray, long-sleeved golf shirt and a pair of plain dark slacks.
Japanese retailers, in anticipation of the Japanese Diet's passage Wednesday of a bill deregulating the opening of large stores, have recently stepped up their plans to open fancy American-style shopping malls.
That's why selling fancy clothes in a Banana Republic is offensive.
Patrons of fancy restaurants hunger to taste it in soups, stews, appetizers and even ice cream.
A Missouri traveler recalled a conversation with him in which Boone said, "Many heroic exploits and chivalrous adventures are related to me which only exist in the regions of fancy.
If you fancy a designer name, give him Aramis Classic and you cannot go wrong.
Connie Payton, president of Biloxi's tenants association, says she doubts that the poor would get the jobs on Biloxi's fancy new waterfront.
Stolar dreamed of one day staying in the fancy, 3,000-room Stevens Hotel, a dream that will come true.
Often injuries follow when inexperienced people do back dives, dive through objects such as inner tubes or try fancy dives.