toby
[toh-bee]
- Also Toby, Toby jug. a mug in the form of a stout old man wearing a three-cornered hat.
- Older Slang. a long, slender, cheap cigar.
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Origin of toby
First recorded in 1830–40; generic use of proper name, short for Tobias
Toby
[toh-bee]
- a male given name, form of Tobias.
- a female given name.
- toby(def 1).
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for toby
Contemporary Examples
Unfortunately for Lohan, the next line delivered by Richard Schiff (Toby from The West Wing) was: “You have done a fantastic job!”
Toby Lanzer, who heads UN humanitarian operations in South Sudan, has referred to the slaughter in Bentiu as a "game changer."
The fashion photography duo talks to Toby Milstein about their latest projects and who they never want to photograph.
(The choppy, inert 2000 TV movie with Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd barely registered a blip).
“This law is so absurd,” said Toby Hoover, director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.
Historical Examples
Toby and myself will look out for all we want to take with us.
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
"Oh, you d-d-don't need to w-w-worry about me," Toby hastened to say.
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
That leaves it a toss-up between Toby Jucklin and Bandy-legs!
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
Even Toby put in his claim to a partnership in bringing about its demise.
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
At first Toby had been too alarmed to even think of calling for help.
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
toby
- a water stopcock at the boundary of a street and house section
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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 toby
Toby
familiar form of masc. proper name Tobias, in various colloquial usages, e.g. "jug" (1840), "drinking mug in the form of a stout old man;" as a type of collar (1882) it refers to that worn by the dog Toby in the 19c. Punch and Judy shows. Also in Toby show (by 1942, American English) "comedy act based on the stock character of a boisterous, blundering yokel."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper