Definition of Tabby

1. Noun. A cat with a grey or tawny coat mottled with black.

Exact synonyms: Tabby Cat
Generic synonyms: Domestic Cat, Felis Catus, Felis Domesticus, House Cat

2. Adjective. Having a grey or brown streak or a pattern or a patchy coloring; used especially of the patterned fur of cats.
Exact synonyms: Brinded, Brindle, Brindled
Similar to: Patterned

3. Noun. Female cat.
Exact synonyms: Queen
Generic synonyms: Domestic Cat, Felis Catus, Felis Domesticus, House Cat

Definition of Tabby

1. n. A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.

2. a. Having a wavy or watered appearance; as, a tabby waistcoat.

3. v. t. To water; to cause to look wavy, by the process of calendering; to calender; as, to tabby silk, mohair, ribbon, etc.

Definition of Tabby

1. Proper noun. (diminutive=Tabitha female given name). ¹

2. Noun. A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering. ¹

3. Noun. A mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock. ¹

4. Noun. A brindled cat ¹

5. Noun. (countable archaic) An old maid or gossip. ¹

6. Adjective. Having a wavy or watered appearance; as, a tabby waistcoat. ¹

7. Adjective. Brindled; diversified in color; as, a tabby cat. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Tabby

1. to give a wavy appearance to [v -BIED, -BYING, -BIES]

Medical Definition of Tabby

1. Origin: F. Tabis (cf. It. Tabi, Sp. & Pg. Tabi, LL. Attabi), fr. Ar. 'attabi, properly the name of a quarter of Bagdad where it was made, the quarter being named from the prince Attab, great grandson of Omeyya. Cf. Tobine. 1. A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering. 2. A mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock. 3. A brindled cat; hence, popularly, any cat. 4. An old maid or gossip. 1. Having a wavy or watered appearance; as a tabby waistcoar. 2. Brindled; diversified in colour; as, a tabby cat. Tabby moth, the grease moth. See Grease. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Tabby

tabascos
tabasheer
tabashir
tabashirs
tabatiere anatomique
tabbed
tabbied
tabbies
tabbinet
tabbinets
tabbing
tabbis
tabbises
tabbouleh
tabboulehs
tabby
tabby cat
tabby cat striation
tabbying
tabefaction
tabefied
tabefies
tabefy
tabefying
tabella
tabellion
tabellions
taber
taberd
taberdar

Literary usage of Tabby

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1876)
"Tabby gravely, " they'd want a character, and I'd have to get up early in the ... You run after that woman, and ask her for a penny," said Tabby suddenly, ..."

2. The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine by Charles Fenno Hoffman, Timothy Flint, Lewis Gaylord Clark, Kinahan Cornwallis, John Holmes Agnew (1842)
"But lo ! one day the family A mournful change espies, The kitchen-maid began to note, That Tabby ne'er was seen, And Tom's — like angels' — visits were But ..."

3. The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine by Charles Fenno Hoffman, Timothy Flint, Lewis Gaylord Clark, Kinahan Cornwallis, John Holmes Agnew (1842)
"THERE dwelt two cata in our town, In a garret loll so gay ; The name of the one was TAWNEY TOM, Of the other, Tabby GRAY. For years had they together lived ..."

4. The Knickerbocker. by Charles Fenno Hoffman, Lewis Gaylord Clark, Kinahan Cornwallis, John Holmes Agnew, Timothy Flint, Washington Irving (1842)
"TAWNEY TOM AND Tabby GRAY. THERE dwelt two cats in our town, In a garret loft so gay ; The name of the one was TAWNEY TOM, Of the other, Tabby GRAY. ..."

5. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1891)
"Made of or resembling the fabric tabby; diversified in appearance or color ... The Prince [of Wales) himself, in a new sky-blue watered tabby coat Walpole ..."

6. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1876)
"But if Tabby and her mother were quarreling, the quarrel did not last long. The talkers were in bed while it was being carried on. ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Tabby on Dictionary.com!Search for Tabby on Thesaurus.com!Search for Tabby on Google!Search for Tabby on Wikipedia!

Search