tommy
noun
tommy
1 American
[tom-ee]
/ ˈtɒm i /
noun
British.
-
tommies
plural
-
(sometimes initial capital letter) Tommy Atkins.
-
Slang. bread, especially brown bread, or rations, as formerly distributed to troops and workers.
tommy
British
/ ˈtɒmɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tommy
First recorded in 1775–85; by shortening
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:
And a handful of states even banned semiautomatic firearms, which, unlike the tommy gun, require a shooter to pull the trigger for every round fired.
From National Geographic ● Jun. 14, 2016
Modern-day bandits in developed countries are far likelier to use keyboards than tommy guns, remotely siphoning millions from the comfort and safety of another country.
From Forbes ● Nov. 8, 2013
Set in 1930s rural Virginia, the film is essentially a Western with tommy guns.
From BBC ● May 19, 2012
A classic tommy gun and an Appalachian copper still are on view.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2010
The national feeling of the tommy resolves itself into this—here he is.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
However, I can say Josh Dylan and Antonia Thomas do justice to their modernized versions of Christie’s power couple Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
Tommy Edman scored easily, and Mookie Betts slid across the plate head first as the throw came in high and too late.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Both brands are also seeing early momentum with product and marketing for the fall, Larsson said, pointing to recent campaigns with Tate McRae for Calvin Klein and Travis Kelce for Tommy Hilfiger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Her son Tommy was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit where he was monitored after the traumatic birth, but got home healthy two days later.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
We needed to have another meeting with the district attorney, Tommy Chapman, but this time we’d be going in armed with a court order to turn over police and prosecutorial files.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
"The soldiers who once called each other Redcoats and Yankees became the Tommies and the GIs who together saved the free world," he said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Currently, the Tommies play basketball in a 1,800-seat gym.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2023
It’s just the second season for the Tommies at the Division I level and they’re ineligible for the playoffs.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 19, 2022
The PFL won’t make the Tommies wait, though.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2022
But he was in the RAF and the Tommies held him accountable.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Among the crocus, some gardeners find that Crocus tommasinianus, the so-called tommies, are less often disturbed.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2020
I can never remember whether we're supposed to think the likes of our footballers would make useless tommies, or whether we're meant to sniff that that is all they really are.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2013
Sporadic fighting went on for six months until British Governor Sir Richard Luyt assumed emergency power and called in 5,000 tommies.
From Time Magazine Archive
Husky, ruddy-cheeked young tommies in heavy suits and bulky sweaters, they looked like members of an oversize Rugby team.
From Time Magazine Archive
Miss Elise was heer last week and is that sweet grown that all the woonded tommies fit with pillos to see who wud propos to her.
From The Parts Men Play by Arthur Beverley Baxter
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.
