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tabby

¹

[tab-ee]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tabby ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural tab·bies.

a cat with a striped or brindled coat.

a domestic cat, especially a female one.

a spinster.

a spiteful female gossip or tattler.

a watered silk fabric, or any other watered material, as moreen.

adjective

striped or brindled.

made of or resembling tabby.

verb (used with object), tab·bied, tab·by·ing.

to give a wavy or watered appearance to, as silk.

Origin of tabby

¹

1630–40; back formation from French tabis (taken as plural), Middle French (a)tabis silk cloth < Medieval Latin attābi < Arabic ʿattābī, derivative of (al-)ʿAttābīyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, literally, the quarter of (Prince) ʿAttāb

tabby

²

[tab-ee]

noun

(in the southeastern U.S.) a building material composed of ground oyster shells, lime, and sand, mixed with salt water.

Origin of tabby

²

An Americanism dating back to 1765–75; said to be of West African orig.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tabby

gossipmonger, gossiper, tattletale, talebearer, telltale, snoop, tattler, rumormonger, informer, busybody, meddler, blabbermouth, chatterbox, parrot, taleteller, tattle, scandalmonger, babbler, flibbertigibbet, whisperer

Examples from the Web for tabby

Historical Examples of tabby

Is not a soft, white-breasted maltese or tabby as attractive?
Concerning Cats
Helen M. Winslow
But it's about as nigh to Joe's as 'tis to Tabby's, seems to me.
Fair Harbor
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
I started as though I had seen a tabby pounce down from the rigging!
The Rambles of a Rat
A. L. O. E.
Ah, Tabby, what a deal of secret misery there is in the world!
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid
Lilian Bell
Tabby, old maids are a public nuisance, not to say dangerous.
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid
Lilian Bell

British Dictionary definitions for tabby

tabby

¹

noun

a fabric with a watered pattern, esp silk or taffeta

Word Origin for tabby

C17: from Old French tabis silk cloth, from Arabic al-`attabiya, literally: the quarter of (Prince) `Attab, the part of Baghdad where the fabric was first made

tabby

²

adjective

(esp of cats) brindled with dark stripes or wavy markings on a lighter background

having a wavy or striped pattern, particularly in colours of grey and brown

noun plural -bies

a tabby cat

any female domestic cat

British informal a gossiping old woman

Australian slang any girl or woman

Word Origin for tabby

C17: from Tabby, pet form of the girl's name Tabitha, probably influenced by tabby 1

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

Word Origin and History for tabby

n.

1630s, "striped silk taffeta," from French tabis "a rich, watered silk (originally striped)," from Middle French atabis (14c.), from Arabic 'attabiya, from 'Attabiy, a neighborhood of Baghdad where such cloth was first made, named for prince 'Attab of the Omayyad dynasty. Tabby cat, one with a striped coat, is attested from 1690s; shortened form tabby first attested 1774. Sense of "female cat" (1826) may be influenced by the fem. proper name Tabby, a pet form of Tabitha, which was used in late 18c. as slang for "difficult old woman."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper