\Tri"fle\, n. [OE. trifle, trufle, OF. trufle mockery,
raillery, trifle, probably the same word as F. truffe
truffle, the word being applied to any small or worthless
object. See {Truffle}.]
1. A thing of very little value or importance; a paltry, or
   trivial, affair.
         With such poor trifles playing.       --Drayton.
         Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmation
         strong As proofs of holy writ.        --Shak.
         Small sands the mountain, moments make year, And
         frifles life.                         --Young.
2. A dish composed of sweetmeats, fruits, cake, wine, etc.,
   with syllabub poured over it.

\Tri"fle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Trifled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Trifling}.] [OE. trifelen, truflen. See {Trifle}, n.]
To act or talk without seriousness, gravity, weight, or
dignity; to act or talk with levity; to indulge in light or
trivial amusements.
      They trifle, and they beat the air about nothing which
      toucheth us.                             --Hooker.
{To trifle with}, to play the fool with; to treat without
   respect or seriousness; to mock; as, to trifle with one's
   feelings, or with sacred things.

\Tri"fle\, v. t.
1. To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle. [Obs.]
   --Shak.
2. To spend in vanity; to fritter away; to waste; as, to
   trifle away money. ``We trifle time.'' --Shak.