Loy

American

[loi] / lɔɪ /

noun

a female given name.

loy British

/ lɔɪ /

noun

a narrow spade with a single footrest

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of loy

C18: from Irish Gaelic láí

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.

However, former Rangers forward Rory Loy was particularly impressed with the youngster's movement.

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026

Driving to the byeline, jinking in off the left, and also finding himself space in central areas, Loy described Moore's movement as "nothing short of sensational".

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026

“Should the market now be questioning the planned closure dates of other major coal-fired electricity generation plants in Australia—Yallourn in 2028, Bayswater 2031-33, and Loy Yang by 2035?”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

An international research team led by microbiologists Marc Mussmann and Alexander Loy at the University of Vienna has uncovered a completely new type of microbial metabolism.

From Science Daily • Nov. 9, 2025

Tycoon Howard Hughes made an appearance at the lab’s 1934 research conference, and Hollywood showed up at the airfield to shoot the 1938 movie Test Pilot, starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey, and Myrna Loy.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023