tabby

1
[ tab-ee ]
See synonyms for tabby on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural tab·bies.
  1. a cat with a striped or brindled coat.

  2. a domestic cat, especially a female one.

  1. a spinster.

  2. a spiteful female gossip or tattler.

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

adjective
  1. striped or brindled.

  2. made of or resembling tabby.

verb (used with object),tab·bied, tab·by·ing.
  1. to give a wavy or watered appearance to, as silk.

Origin of tabby

1
First recorded in 1630–40; back formation from French tabis (taken as plural), Middle French (a)tabis “silk cloth,” from Medieval Latin attābi, from Arabic ʿattābī, derivative of (al) ʿAttābīyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, literally, “the quarter of (Prince) ʿAttāb”

Other definitions for tabby (2 of 2)

tabby2
[ tab-ee ]

noun
  1. (in the southeastern United States) 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; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Gullah tabi, from a West African language

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tabby in a sentence

  • What are generally shown as brown tabbies are not sufficiently orange-brown, but mostly of a dark, brownish-gray.

  • Any one wishing to breed rich brown tabbies, should use a tortoiseshell she-cat with a very brown and black-banded he-cat.

  • I have never seen imported strong-coloured tabbies of this breed, nor do I believe such are true Angoras.

  • He had, he said, a big pair of tabbies who slept in the hay and came up to the dairy when the milk was strained.

    The Gay Cockade | Temple Bailey
  • Now if I can only clear these old tabbies out, I can tackle Culchard.

British Dictionary definitions for tabby (1 of 2)

tabby1

/ (ˈtæbɪ) /


noun
  1. a fabric with a watered pattern, esp silk or taffeta

Origin of tabby

1
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

British Dictionary definitions for tabby (2 of 2)

tabby2

/ (ˈtæbɪ) /


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

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

nounplural -bies
  1. a tabby cat

  2. any female domestic cat

  1. British informal a gossiping old woman

  2. Australian slang any girl or woman

Origin of tabby

2
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