/ˈtæb.i/
OriginMid 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.
- countable, uncountableA kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
“"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."”
- uncountableA 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.
- countableA brindled cat.
“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.”
- Australia, countable, slang, uncountableA woman, irrespective of age, but often used for a young, attractive woman.
“‘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.’”
- archaic, countableAn old maid or gossip.
- Having a wavy or watered appearance.
- Brindled; diversified in color.
- transitiveTo give a wavy or watered appearance to (a textile).
- A diminutive of the female given name Tabitha.
- A diminutive of the female given name Tabetha.
Formstabbies(plural) · tabbier(comparative) · tabbiest(superlative) · tabbies(present, singular, third-person) · tabbying(participle, present) · tabbied(participle, past) · tabbied(past)