tabby
/ˈtæb.i/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A concrete 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.
Uncountable
noun
A woman, irrespective of age, but often used for a young, attractive woman.
Australian usage; Countable; Slang; Uncountable
adj
Having a wavy or watered appearance.
adj
Example Sentences
- ""Ay, ay; she wore a flowered silk tabby sacque, on band days," said Toole, who had an eye and a corner in his memory for female costume, "a fine showy—I remember.""
- "A wise tabby, a blinking sphinx, watched from her warm sill. Pity to disturb them. Mohammed cut a piece out of his mantle not to wake her."
- "‘The kids go for a drive in a borrowed car, park on another street between the corner lamps, and then there’s ructions because some little tabby gets up the stick.’"
- "a tabby waistcoat"
- "a tabby cat"
Etymology
Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian تافته (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological origin.
Word Breakdown
- Suffix: y