a fabric with a watered pattern, esp silk or taffeta
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
tab•by1 /ˈtæbi/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -bies.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Dog and Cat Breedsa cat with a striped coat.
- Dog and Cat Breedsa domestic cat, esp. a female one.
tab•by1
(tab′ē),USA pronunciation n., pl. -bies, adj., v., -bied, -by•ing.
n.
adj.
v.t.
tab•by2 (tab′ē),USA pronunciation n.
n.
- Dog and Cat Breedsa cat with a striped or brindled coat.
- Dog and Cat Breedsa domestic cat, esp. a female one.
- a spinster.
- a spiteful female gossip or tattler.
- TextilesSee plain weave.
- Textilesa watered silk fabric, or any other watered material, as moreen.
adj.
- striped or brindled.
- Textilesmade of or resembling tabby.
v.t.
- Textilesto 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),USA pronunciation n.
- 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::
(esp of cats) brindled with dark stripes or wavy markings on a lighter background having a wavy or striped pattern, particularly in colours of grey and brown
a tabby cat any female domestic cat
'tabby cat' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):