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• murphy
  murphy

  noun

  an Irish or white potato.
• Murphy
  Murphy

  noun

  Frank, 1890–1949, U.S. statesman and jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1940–49.

murphy

¹ American  

[mur-fee] / ˈmɜr fi /

noun

• murphies
  plural

1. an Irish or white potato.

2. any of various confidence games in which a victim is left with a sealed envelope supposedly containing money, but which contains only newspaper or scrap paper cut to the same size as paper money.

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verb (used with object)

murphied, murphying

1. to victimize or dupe in such a manner.

Murphy ² American  

[mur-fee] / ˈmɜr fi /

noun

1. Frank, 1890–1949, U.S. statesman and jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1940–49.

2. Isaac, 1861–96, U.S. thoroughbred racehorse jockey.

3. William Parry 1892–1987, U.S. physician: Nobel Prize in medicine 1934.

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Murphy ¹ British  

/ ˈmɜːfɪ /

noun

1. Alex. born 1939, English rugby league player and coach; scored 16 tries in 27 test matches for Great Britain (1958–71)

2. Eddie, full name Edward Regan Murphy . born 1951, US film actor and comedian. His films include 48 Hours (1982), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Coming to America (1988), Dr Dolittle (1998), and, as a voice artist, the Shrek series of animated films (2001–10)

3. William Parry. 1892–1987, US physician: with G. R. Minot, he discovered the liver treatment for anaemia and they shared, with G. H. Whipple, the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1934

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murphy ² British  

/ ˈmɜːfɪ /

noun

1. a dialect or informal word for potato

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• murphies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of murphy

First recorded in 1805–15; special uses of Murphy, a typical Irish surname

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

murphy Murphy murphies

A studio apartment with a shared murphy bed became their home.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 15, 2015

A piece of sea-weed has often, heretofore, been used as a barometer; but it is only of late that this purpose has been answered by a murphy.

From The Comic Latin Grammar A new and facetious introduction to the Latin tongue by John Leech

Mike reached over and carefully selected a big murphy, which he held with the thumb of his left hand and fingers circling about it.

From The Launch Boys' Adventures in Northern Waters by Burton Donnel Hughes

Murphy summoned Woodruff, the longest-tenured Brewer, to work the ninth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Nicola McCollough travelled with her daughter Lily Rose Murphy from Belfast for Lily Rose's first ever concert.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

“We see that he’s in his element, man,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026

On Friday, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy summoned Ashby with one out in the seventh and the Brewers clinging to a 2-1 lead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

“He’s sure bleeding good, I can tell you that,” Doc Murphy says.

From "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

He was fast in the arms uv murphies, or maniac, speaking by the card, till the bhoy Samba woke him up.

From Samba A Story of the Rubber Slaves of the Congo by Herbert Strang

As far as I remimber, I began with murphies, when I was two feet high, in my father's cabin in ould Ireland.

From Martin Rattler by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

The rich, tawny soil seemed specially adapted to the crop; the great yellow murphies rolling out of the hills like eggs from a nest.

From Omoo by Herman Melville

Jack Robinson earnestly advised the faithless man to go home, and help his grandmother, thenceforth, to plant murphies; after which he embarked in his canoe alone, and paddled away into the dreary north.

From Fort Desolation Red Indians and Fur Traders of Rupert's Land by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

With murphies for to ate, An' as many pigs and childer As the fingers on me fate.'

From Verse and Worse by Harry Graham

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