darby
noun
a float having two handles, used by plasterers.
darby
1 American
[dahr-bee]
/ ˈdɑr bi /
noun
Building Trades.
-
darbies
plural
Darby
2
American
[dahr-bee]
/ ˈdɑr bi /
noun
Darby
British
/ ˈdɑːbɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of darby
1565–75; perhaps after a proper name or Derby, England
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In fact, it's pronounced "darby" and is a hand-blended cheddar curd cheese with a mix of sage and spinach.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2022
"Let me remove that darby, my lord," said Mauresco.
From Latitude 19 degree A Romance of the West Indies in the Year of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Twenty by Mrs. Schuyler Crowninshield
And what a convenient implement this for a froth-house builder who is compelled to work behind her back—mortar-feeder, trowel, darby, compass, and level all in one!
From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson
Money, with him is "the ready," "the rhino," "the darby;" a good hat is "a rum nab;" to be well off is to be "rhinocerical."
From Old and New London Volume I by Walter Thornbury
On “Obsession,” the complaint says, Darby was paid $300,000 out of the film’s initial minimum guarantee after Tea Shop directed her company, Runt Productions, to invoice for “Services: Obsession.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
In addition to her share of Tea Shop’s profits on “Obsession,” Darby is seeking a full accounting for several projects as well as unpaid wages, expenses and relief for retaliation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The council's usual chair and vice-chair, David Moore and Debbie Darby, had already left the meeting because the discussion related to their allowances.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Hong Leong maintains an overweight rating on Malaysia’s automotive sector given its resilient earnings and attractive dividend yields, and pegs MBM Resources and Sime Darby as top picks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
In that same year, 1820, the year of the Missouri Compromise, Thomas Garrett and his wife, Sarah, both Quakers, moved from Darby, Pennsylvania, to Wilmington, Delaware.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
The great escapist simply banged the darbies on the pillar and walked off.
From Time Magazine Archive
He will scour the darbies; he will be in fetters.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
The darbies ain't o' no use, you see, as we've got you all safe with the ropes.
From Gascoyne, The Sandal-Wood Trader A Tale of the Pacific by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
"Do ye think I mane to let the fly cops put their darbies on me, that I should be nosin' around in the broad day?"
From Jim Cummings Or, The Great Adams Express Robbery by A. Frank [pseud.] Pinkerton
To twig the darbies; to knock off the irons.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
