toy

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See also: Toy, tøy, -tøy, toþ, тоу, and тө.ү

English

Etymology

From Middle English toye (amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament) as in Dutch speel-tuig (play-thing, toy), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (stuff, matter, device, gear, lever, literally that which is drawn or pulled), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (to lead, bring, pull), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (to pull, lead). Cognate with German Zeug (stuff), Danish tøj (stuff). Related to tug, tow.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tɔɪ/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪ

Noun

toy (plural toys)

Children playing with a wooden toy car.
  1. Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.
    A grown man does not play with a child’s toy.
  2. A thing of little importance or value; a trifle.
  3. A simple, light piece of music, written especially for the virginal.
  4. Short for toy dog.
    • 1968, Jeff Griffen, The Poodle Book, page 36:
      Since standards are large dogs, they grow much more rapidly than miniatures and toys, which means that they require more supplements.
  5. (obsolete) Love play, amorous dalliance; fondling.
  6. (obsolete) A vague fancy, a ridiculous idea or notion; a whim.
  7. (obsolete) An old story; a silly tale.
  8. (Scotland, archaic) A headdress of linen or wool that hangs down over the shoulders, worn by old women of the lower classes.
    Synonym: toy mutch
  9. A sex toy (object or device to give sexual pleasure).
  10. (slang, derogatory) An inferior graffiti artist.
    • 2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, page 40:
      It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.
    • 2011, Adam Melnyk, Visual Orgasm: The Early Years of Canadian Graffiti, page 45:
      I was a toy until I met Sear, who moved here from Toronto and showed me the book Subway Art.
    • 2022 August 31, Babak Anvari, Namsi Khan, 15:22 from the start, in Babak Anvari, director, I Came By (film), spoken by Rave (Sean Rey):
      DAVE COLUMBO (played by Gabriel Bisset-Smith): So, Rave, you’re a graffiti artist. RAVE: Writer. Graffiti writer. There’s a difference. DAVE COLUMBO: What do you make of “I Came By”(the practice of robbing rich people’s houses and tagging them with the words “I came by”)? RAVE: I think whoever done it is a fucking toy. I heard it’s not the same crew anymore.
  11. (slang, MLE) A gun.
    Synonym: bit (slang, MLE)
    • 2013 December 23, Stephen Reynolds, 48:02 from the start, in Stephen Reynolds, director, Vendetta (film), spoken by Ronnie (Nick Nevern):
      RONNIE: Now, that is a SIG Sauer P226. JIMMY VICKERS (played by Danny Dyer): Yeah, takes 19 in the clip. It’s effective up to 50 metres. RONNIE: Man knows his toys.
  12. (slang, euphemistic, dated) The penis.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis
  13. (slang, euphemistic, dated) The vagina.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagina
  14. (slang, dated) A watch.
    a toy and tackle (a watch and chain)
    • 1879 October, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves' Language”, in Macmillan's Magazine, volume 40, number 240, page 505, column 2:
      Me and the other one went by ourselves; he was very tricky (clever) at getting a poge or a toy, but he would not touch toys because we was afraid of being turned over (searched).
    • 1896, Arthur Morrison, A Child of the Jago, London: Methuen & Co., page 239:
      And as it commonly took three men to secure a single watch in the open street—one to 'front,' one to snatch, and a third to take from the snatcher—the gains of the toy-getting trade were poor, except to the fence.
  15. (slang, dated) A small jar (about an inch across) used to hold prepared opium.
    • 1915, George Bronson Howard, God's Man, Indianapolis, I.N.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 127:
      Sonia, with a woman's dainty deftness in small matters, dug out the chocolate-colored opium from a little white jar, a "toey," cooking it over a steady flame of peanut-oil.
    • 1928, May Churchill Sharpe [i.e., Chicago May], Chicago May: Her Story, New York, N.Y.: The Macaulay Company, pages 159–160:
      Chang was always on call, to go to Americans with "toys" of hop, ready to "cook," if desired by his patrons.
    • 1946, Mezz Mezzrow, Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, pages 253–254:
      I called up Mike and pleaded with him to bring me the joint (the layout) and put me out of my misery. Instead he came up with some medicine, a patent product called Wampoole's Mixture that was supposed to help you taper off the stuff. What you did was, you took a toy (a tin) of hop and shook it up with this medicine in a bottle and kept taking it every day. As the bottle got empty you kept filling it up again with more of the medicine, so the amount of hop kept going down and finally you were taking practically straight medicine.
  16. (slang, dated) A small ball of opium (about the size of a pea).
    • 1989, David Courtwright, Herman Joseph, Don Des Jarlais, quoting Lao Pai-Hsing (translated interview), Addicts Who Survived: An Oral History of Narcotic Use in America, 1923-1965, Knoxville, T.N.: The University of Tennessee Press, →ISBN, page 84:
      I smoked a toy a day, same as on the ship. You could buy a small toy for two dollars.
    • 1991, Jimmy Breslin, Damon Runyon, New York, N.Y.: Ticknor & Fields, →ISBN, pages 176–177:
      The act at the Alamo began with Jackson sprawled on a chair and pretending to be smoking opium. He used a broom handle with a tin cup at the end as if he were cooking opium. There wasn't a patron in the joint who had to ask what they were pretending to do. When Jackson took small balls of wax and said he was making "toys," everybody laughed.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

toy (third-person singular simple present toys, present participle toying, simple past and past participle toyed)

  1. (intransitive) To play (with) in an idle or desultory way.
    to toy with a piece of food on one’s plate
    Figo is toying with the English defence.
  2. (intransitive) To ponder or consider.
    I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.
  3. (slang, transitive) To stimulate with a sex toy.
    • 2013, Jonathan Everest, Lady Loverly's Chattel:
      He could see her hand go to her slit, and soon she was toying herself along, breathing heavily.

Translations

See also

References

Anagrams

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *toy (feast).

Pronunciation

Noun

toy (definite accusative toyu, plural toylar)

  1. wedding

Declension

    Declension of toy
singular plural
nominative toy
toylar
definite accusative toyu
toyları
dative toya
toylara
locative toyda
toylarda
ablative toydan
toylardan
definite genitive toyun
toyların
    Possessive forms of toy
nominative
singular plural
mənim (my) toyum toylarım
sənin (your) toyun toyların
onun (his/her/its) toyu toyları
bizim (our) toyumuz toylarımız
sizin (your) toyunuz toylarınız
onların (their) toyu or toyları toyları
accusative
singular plural
mənim (my) toyumu toylarımı
sənin (your) toyunu toylarını
onun (his/her/its) toyunu toylarını
bizim (our) toyumuzu toylarımızı
sizin (your) toyunuzu toylarınızı
onların (their) toyunu or toylarını toylarını
dative
singular plural
mənim (my) toyuma toylarıma
sənin (your) toyuna toylarına
onun (his/her/its) toyuna toylarına
bizim (our) toyumuza toylarımıza
sizin (your) toyunuza toylarınıza
onların (their) toyuna or toylarına toylarına
locative
singular plural
mənim (my) toyumda toylarımda
sənin (your) toyunda toylarında
onun (his/her/its) toyunda toylarında
bizim (our) toyumuzda toylarımızda
sizin (your) toyunuzda toylarınızda
onların (their) toyunda or toylarında toylarında
ablative
singular plural
mənim (my) toyumdan toylarımdan
sənin (your) toyundan toylarından
onun (his/her/its) toyundan toylarından
bizim (our) toyumuzdan toylarımızdan
sizin (your) toyunuzdan toylarınızdan
onların (their) toyundan or toylarından toylarından
genitive
singular plural
mənim (my) toyumun toylarımın
sənin (your) toyunun toylarının
onun (his/her/its) toyunun toylarının
bizim (our) toyumuzun toylarımızın
sizin (your) toyunuzun toylarınızın
onların (their) toyunun or toylarının toylarının

Crimean Tatar

Noun

toy

  1. wedding feast
  2. banquet

Faroese

Etymology

From Danish tøj, from Middle Low German tüg.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tʰɔiː/, /tʰœiː/

Noun

toy n (genitive singular toys, uncountable)

  1. fabric

Declension

Declension of toy (singular only)
n3s singular
indefinite definite
nominative toy toyið
accusative toy toyið
dative toyi toyinum
genitive toys toysins

Middle French

Alternative forms

Pronoun

toy

  1. (in the singular, less formal) you

Synonyms

  • (plural or polite singular): vous

Related terms

Turkish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish طوی, attested in Turkic from the 11th century.

Adjective

toy

  1. immature, naive
  2. amateur, unexperienced

Etymology 2

Noun

toy (definite accusative toyu, plural toylar)

  1. great bustard; Otis tarda

See also

Etymology 3

From Common Turkic *toy (feast).

Pronunciation

Noun

toy (definite accusative toyu, plural toylar)

  1. (dated) feast, wedding
Declension
Inflection
Nominative toy
Definite accusative toyu
Singular Plural
Nominative toy toylar
Definite accusative toyu toyları
Dative toya toylara
Locative toyda toylarda
Ablative toydan toylardan
Genitive toyun toyların
Possessive forms
Nominative
Singular Plural
1st singular toyum toylarım
2nd singular toyun toyların
3rd singular toyu toyları
1st plural toyumuz toylarımız
2nd plural toyunuz toylarınız
3rd plural toyları toyları
Definite accusative
Singular Plural
1st singular toyumu toylarımı
2nd singular toyunu toylarını
3rd singular toyunu toylarını
1st plural toyumuzu toylarımızı
2nd plural toyunuzu toylarınızı
3rd plural toylarını toylarını
Dative
Singular Plural
1st singular toyuma toylarıma
2nd singular toyuna toylarına
3rd singular toyuna toylarına
1st plural toyumuza toylarımıza
2nd plural toyunuza toylarınıza
3rd plural toylarına toylarına
Locative
Singular Plural
1st singular toyumda toylarımda
2nd singular toyunda toylarında
3rd singular toyunda toylarında
1st plural toyumuzda toylarımızda
2nd plural toyunuzda toylarınızda
3rd plural toylarında toylarında
Ablative
Singular Plural
1st singular toyumdan toylarımdan
2nd singular toyundan toylarından
3rd singular toyundan toylarından
1st plural toyumuzdan toylarımızdan
2nd plural toyunuzdan toylarınızdan
3rd plural toylarından toylarından
Genitive
Singular Plural
1st singular toyumun toylarımın
2nd singular toyunun toylarının
3rd singular toyunun toylarının
1st plural toyumuzun toylarımızın
2nd plural toyunuzun toylarınızın
3rd plural toylarının toylarının

Further reading

  • toy”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu

References

Uzbek

Other scripts
Cyrillic той (toy)
Latin toy
Perso-Arabic

Noun

toy (plural toylar)

  1. foal