tabby

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: tab=by

CIDE DICTIONARY

tabby, n. [F. tabis (cf. It. tabì, Sp. & Pg. tabí, LL. attabi), fr. Ar. 'attābī, 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.].

•  A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  Weale.  [1913 Webster]
•  A brindled cat; hence, popularly, any cat.  [1913 Webster]
•  An old maid or gossip.  Byron.  [1913 Webster]

tabby, a. 

•  Having a wavy or watered appearance; as, a tabby waistcoat.  Pepys.  [1913 Webster]
•  Brindled; diversified in color; as, a tabby cat.  [1913 Webster]

Tabby moth (Zoöl.), the grease moth. See under Grease.

tabby, v. t. 

 To water; to cause to look wavy, by the process of calendering; to calender; as, to tabby silk, mohair, ribbon, etc.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tabby, n. (pl. -ies)
1 (in full tabby cat) a a grey or brownish cat mottled or streaked with dark stripes. b any domestic cat, esp. female.
2 a kind of watered silk.
3 a plain weave.

Etymology

F tabis (in sense 2) f. Arab. al-' attabiya the quarter of Baghdad where tabby was manufactured: connection of other senses uncert.

THESAURUS

tabby

Cheshire cat, Chinchilla cat, Maltese cat, a tale-bearing animal, alley cat, banded, barred, blue cat, brinded, brindle, brindled, busybody, calico cat, cat, feline, gib, gib-cat, gossip, gossip columnist, gossiper, gossipmonger, grimalkin, house cat, kit, kitling, kitten, kitty, kitty-cat, listed, maiden lady, marbled, marbleized, mouser, newsmonger, newspaperman, old maid, puss, pussy, pussycat, quidnunc, reporter, rumormonger, scandalmonger, silver cat, spinstress, streaked, streaky, striatal, striate, striated, strigate, strigose, striolate, striped, stripy, tabby cat, talebearer, taleteller, tattler, tattletale, telltale, tiger cat, tittle-tattler, tom, tomcat, tortoise-shell cat, veined, watered, yenta

ROGET THESAURUS

tabby

Conversation

N conversation, interlocution, collocution, colloquy, converse, confabulation, talk, discourse, verbal intercourse, oral communication, commerce, dialogue, duologue, trialogue, causerie, chat, chitchat, small talk, table talk, teatable talk, town talk, village talk, idle talk, tattle, gossip, tittle-tattle, babble, babblement, tripotage, cackle, prittle-prattle, cancan, on dit, talk of the town, talk of the village, conference, parley, interview, audience, pourparler, tete-a-tete, reception, conversazione, congress, powwow, hall of audience, durbar, palaver, debate, logomachy, war of words, gossip, tattler, Paul Pry, tabby, chatterer, interlocutor, conversationist, dialogist, the feast of reason and the flow of soul, mollia tempora fandi, conversing, interlocutory, conversational, conversable, discursive, discoursive, chatty, colloquial, with thee conversing I forget all time.

Variegation

N variegation, colors, dichroism, trichroism, iridescence, play of colors, polychrome, maculation, spottiness, striae, spectrum, rainbow, iris, tulip, peacock, chameleon, butterfly, tortoise shell, mackerel, mackerel sky, zebra, leopard, cheetah, nacre, ocelot, ophite, mother-of-pearl, opal, marble, check, plaid, tartan, patchwork, marquetry-, parquetry, mosaic, tesserae, strigae, chessboard, checkers, chequers, harlequin, Joseph's coat, tricolor, variegated, many-colored, many-hued, divers-colored, party- colored, dichromatic, polychromatic, bicolor, tricolor, versicolor, of all the colors of the rainbow, of all manner of colors, kaleidoscopic, iridescent, opaline, opalescent, prismatic, nacreous, pearly, shot, gorge de pigeon, chatoyant, irisated, pavonine, pied, piebald, motley, mottled, marbled, pepper and salt, paned, dappled, clouded, cymophanous, mosaic, tesselated, plaid, tortoise shell, spotted, spotty, punctated, powdered, speckled, freckled, flea-bitten, studded, flecked, fleckered, striated, barred, veined, brinded, brindled, tabby, watered, grizzled, listed, embroidered, daedal, naevose, stipiform, strigose, striolate, (iii) PERCEPTIONS OF LIGHT.