tabby

UK: /ˈtæbi/ US: /ˈtæbi/ ,(tab′ē)

Inflections of 'tabby' (n): npl: tabbies

Inflections of 'tabby' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

tabbies

v 3rd person singular

tabbying

v pres p

tabbied

v past

tabbied

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

tab•by¹ /ˈtæbi/   n. [countable] , pl. -bies. 

1. Dog and Cat Breeds a cat with a striped coat.
2. Dog and Cat Breeds a domestic cat, esp. a female one.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

tab•by¹  (tab′ē), n., pl. -bies, adj., v., -bied, -by•ing. 
n. 

1. Dog and Cat Breeds a cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2. Dog and Cat Breeds a domestic cat, esp. a female one.
3. a spinster.
4. a spiteful female gossip or tattler.
5. Textiles See plain weave. 
6. Textiles a watered silk fabric, or any other watered material, as moreen.

adj. 

7. striped or brindled.
8. Textiles made of or resembling tabby.

v.t. 

9. Textiles to give a wavy or watered appearance to, as silk.

• Arabic ‘attābī, derivative of (al-)‘Attābīyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, literally, the quarter of (Prince) ‘Attāb
• Medieval Latin attābi
• back formation from French tabis (taken as plural), Middle French (a)tabis silk cloth 1630–40

tab•by²  (tab′ē), n. 

1. Building (in the southeastern U.S.) a building material composed of ground oyster shells, lime, and sand, mixed with salt water.

• said to be of West African origin, originally 1765–75, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

tabby / ˈtæbɪ/ noun

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

Etymology: 17th Century: 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

tabby / 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

noun ( -bies)

1. a tabby cat
2. any female domestic cat

Etymology: 17th Century: from Tabby, pet form of the girl's name Tabitha, probably influenced by tabby¹