- watered silk
- Tabby Tab"by, n.; pl. {Tabbies}. [F. tabis (cf. It. tab[`i],
Sp. & Pg. tab['i], LL. attabi), fr. Ar. 'att[=a]b[=i],
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.
[1913 Webster]
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. --Weale. [1913 Webster]
3. A brindled cat; hence, popularly, any cat. [1913 Webster]
4. An old maid or gossip. [Colloq.] --Byron. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
