1. striped cat: a brown or gray cat with a striped or mottled coat
2. pet female cat: a domestic cat, especially a female one
3. offensive term: an offensive term for a woman who is considered to be gossipy, spiteful, and interfering
(
literary insult
)
4. textiles silk with striped pattern: watered silk or taffeta with a striped or wavy pattern
5. textiles plain fabric: a plain-woven fabric
adjective
Definition:
1. having striped coat: describes a cat that has a brown or gray coat with a striped or mottled pattern
2. striped or brindled: having a striped or wavy pattern
3. textiles resembling tabby: resembling or made of tabby
[Late 16th century. Via French tabis< Arabic 'attābī, after al-'Attābiyya, quarter of Baghdad, Iraq]
Word History
It was the stripes on the fabric called tabby that led to the application of the word to striped or mottled cats. The usage is first recorded in the 1660s.
