online medical dictionary | definition of tabby

Origin: F. Tabis (cf. It. Tabi, Sp. & Pg. Tabi, LL. Attabi), fr. Ar. 'attabi, 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.

1. A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.

2. 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.

3. A brindled cat; hence, popularly, any cat.

4. An old maid or gossip.

1. Having a wavy or watered appearance; as a tabby waistcoar.

2. Brindled; diversified in colour; as, a tabby cat.

<zoology> Tabby moth, the grease moth. See Grease.

(01 Mar 1998)