请输入您要查询的英文单词:

 

单词 toy
释义

toyn.

Brit. /tɔɪ/, U.S. /tɔɪ/
Forms: Middle English–1700s toye, Middle English– toy, 1500s–1600s toie, 1900s– toey (in sense 6e), 1900s– toyes (plural, in sense 9).
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a borrowing from French. Etymons: French toie, toye.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps < Anglo-Norman and Middle French toie, Middle French toye, variant of taie , taye (French taie ) cover for pillow or cushion (c1140 in Old French), integument, membrane, film, (specifically) albugo (all 13th cent.), in negative constructions as the type of something of little or no value (c1358), in Anglo-Norman also cobweb, diaphragm (both 13th cent.) < classical Latin thēca cover, case, sheath (see theca n.); the presumed semantic development being from ‘something flimsy or insubstantial’ to ‘something of little value or importance’ to ‘something playful, frivolous, or foolish’ (although the latter sense is unattested in French). In sense 8 perhaps influenced by or borrowed from Dutch tooi (see below).Alternative suggestions have been made which derive the word from Dutch, either (i) < Middle Dutch toi (1415–35; Dutch tooi ) clothing, especially fine clothing, adornment, finery (ultimately < the same base as touwen : see taw v.1), which accords well enough with the English word formally, but less well semantically (except perhaps in senses 6a and 8), unless the link is perhaps from finery to frivolity, or (ii) < Middle Dutch tuych (a1500; Dutch tuig ) equipment, gear, implements, tools, materials for work generally, ornaments, clothing, stuff, trash, rubbish (see tew n.2), which likewise shows only slight semantic overlap (perhaps again compare senses 6a and 8; but note also the compound speeltuig plaything, toy, literally ‘play-implement’ (early 18th cent. or earlier) with which compare sense 7a). But apart from the fact that both of these Dutch words are first attested later than the English, a more decisive objection is that neither suggestion adequately explains the early sense development.
I. Something playful, frivolous, or foolish (principally with reference to abstract or immaterial things).
1. Amorous behaviour or sexual activity, caressing; dalliance, flirtation. Also: an act or instance of this. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > action of caressing > [noun] > instance of caressing
toya1400
endearing1622
fondling1640
caressa1657
endearment1702
fondle1750
woo1937
love-up1953
the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > [noun] > amorous play
tugging?c1225
love-lakec1330
toya1400
toying1559
love-sport1598
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 7891 Whedyr hyt be yn a womman handlyng, Or yn any oþer lusty þyng..Amendeþ ȝow, pur charyte, And makeþ nat a-mys þe toye, Þat þe fende of ȝou haue Ioye.
c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 164 (MED) To wrappe me in a sepulture Me sittith bet, as wisly god me saue, Then in myn armes a newe ladi haue. Now bi my soth that were a worthi toy.
c1525 Bk. Mayd Emlyn sig. B.ii She was full ranke..In Venus toyes Was all her Ioyes.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vi. sig. R7 A foe of folly and immodest toy.
1594 Willobie his Auisa xlvii. f. 43v Though coy at first she seeme.., These toyes in tyme will make her yielde.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 1034 So said he, and forbore not glance or toy Of amorous intent, well understood Of Eve. View more context for this quotation
1668 G. Etherege She wou'd if she Cou'd ii. ii. 29 Her toy was such, that every touch Would make a Lover madder.
?1765 Turnip-Sack Garland 3 The Supper being over, For Bed he did repair, To meet his amorous Lover, Who waited for him there; With newest Toys, and bleasant [sic] Joys, They pass'd away the Night.
2.
a. A trivial or frivolous speech or piece of writing; an absurd or fictitious story; a light or humorous remark or composition; a jest, a joke, a pun. Obsolete (archaic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial
gnatc1000
ball play?c1225
smalla1250
triflec1290
fly1297
child's gamec1380
motec1390
mitec1400
child's playc1405
trufferyc1429
toyc1450
curiosity1474
fly-winga1500
neither mass nor matins1528
boys' play1538
nugament1543
knack?1544
fable1552
nincety-fincety1566
mouse1584
molehill1590
coot1594
scoff1594
nidgery1611
pin matter1611
triviality1611
minuity1612
feathera1616
fillip1621
rattle1622
fiddlesticka1625
apex1625
rush candle1628
punctilio1631
rushlight1635
notchet1637
peppercorn1638
petty John1640
emptiness1646
fool-fangle1647
nonny-no1652
crepundian1655
fly-biting1659
pushpin1660
whinny-whanny1673
whiffle1680
straw1692
two and a plack1692
fiddle1695
trivial1715
barley-strawa1721
nothingism1742
curse1763
nihility1765
minutia1782
bee's knee1797
minutiae1797
niff-naff1808
playwork1824
floccinaucity1829
trivialism1830
chicken feed1834
nonsensical1842
meemaw1862
infinitesimality1867
pinfall1868
fidfad1875
flummadiddle1882
quantité négligeable1885
quotidian1902
pipsqueak1905
hickey1909
piddle1910
cream puff1920
squat1934
administrivia1937
chickenshit1938
cream puff1938
diddly-squat1963
non-issue1965
Tinkertoy1972
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > light or facetious
toyc1450
facetiosity1822
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [noun] > one who or that which is comical
comedy1535
toy1542
jest1602
joke1670
comic1674
high comedy1707
humorous1753
comicality1796
funny1852
funniosity1871
hot sketch1917
pisser1918
riot1919
panic1921
cocasserie1934
yell1938
mess1952
crack-up1961
c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) l. 120 (MED) Þe poure peuple hath prece of þaym many Forto telle þaym þaire toyes twyes a woke.
1510 A. Chertsey tr. Floure Commaundementes of God (de Worde) i. xxii. f. xlixv/1 They shall take away the herynge whan a man shall speke of the trouthe, and they shall approche to here fables, toyes, and mockeryes.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. Diogenes §79 Nothyng but a toye, in daliyng with the affinitee and similitude of woordes.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 3 I neuer may beleeue These antique fables, nor these Fairy toyes . View more context for this quotation
1621 J. Molle tr. P. Camerarius Liuing Libr. iii. xx. 215 They gaue credit to all these foolish toies.
1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth I. 126 Fye George, she crys, these Words are but Toys.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. iv. 101 Think of what that arch-knave Shakespeare says—a plague on him, his toys come into my head when I should think of other matter.
1905 R. Garnett William Shakespeare Pedagogue & Poacher 104 She hath heard A little toy of thine, a comedy ('Tis called, I think, The Taming of a Shrew).
b. A light, frivolous, or lively tune. In later use spec.: a melodic phrase in the song of a linnet or other songbird. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > [noun] > light or lively piece
toy1584
air1597
capriccio1696
port1721
divertimento1823
humoresque1869
bagatelle1880
caprice1880
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [noun] > song > part of
notec1400
trillo1651
trilla1704
toy1727
roll1886
subsong1925
1584 G. Peele Araygnem. Paris i. v. sig. Bij Beginne some Toy, that I can play vpon this pipe of mine.
1592 R. Greene Thirde Pt. Conny-catching sig. C4v In the time of ceissing betweene the seuerall toyes and fancies hee plaied.
1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 267 One would have a grave Pavane, another a nimbler Galliard, a third some frisking toy or Jigg.
1727 A. Philips in Whartoniana I. 46 Like the Linnet in the Bush, To the Mother Linnet's Note, Modelling her slender Throat. Chirping forth her petty Joys, Wanton in the Change of Toys.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 14/2 There are four-and-twenty changes in a linnet's song... It sings ‘toys’, as we call them.
1871 Cassell's Househ. Guide III. 231/2 At the present time but few possess good song-birds; if they possessed them, they would know but little of their properties and toys.
3. A playful or frisky movement; an odd, foolish, or capricious act or practice; an antic. Also: a piece of fun, an amusement or entertainment. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > absurdity, incongruity > [noun] > antic
toy?1518
antics1570
murlimewes1583
monkey trick1653
dido1807
monkey work1830
monkeyshinec1832
monkey business1835
rannygazoo1896
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. F.iiiv One alway loude laughyng, at euery toy and iest Maketh his hyd folly, playne euydent to be.
1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 9 Somtyme croweth he like a cocke, somtyme barketh he like a dogge, and many such foolish toyes vseth he.
c1575 Perfect Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 15 Lest she get a toye of flinginge her head.
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) v. 1948 Are apish tricks & toies, which vse to bring Men in dirision, sportes to breed delight?
1777–8 R. Wight Horæ Subsecivæ (MS Bodl. Eng. lang. d.66) 437 [Devon] He hath taken a Toy to scratch his Head, when he is speaking to a Gentleman.
1869 Cornell Univ.: Acct. Proc. Inauguration 7 Oct. 1868 18 This is no place for children's tricks and toys, for exploits which only excite the wonderment of boarding school misses.
4.
a. A matter or thing of little or no value or importance, a trifle; a foolish or senseless affair, subject, etc.; (in plural) nonsense, trumpery, rubbish. Also (with allusion to senses 6a and 7a): something which is superficially attractive or draws a person's attention, but is of little or no intrinsic or spiritual value. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little worth
ivy-leafc1000
needle?c1225
sloec1250
peasea1275
strawc1290
bean1297
nutc1300
buttonc1330
leekc1330
trifle1375
cress1377
goose-wing1377
sop1377
niflec1395
vetcha1400
a pin's head (also point)c1450
trump1513
plack1530
toy1530
blue point1532
grey groat1546
cherry-stone1607
jiggalorum1613
candle-enda1625
peppercorn1638
sponge1671
sneeshing1686
snottera1689
catchpenny1705
potato1757
snuff1809
pinhead1828
traneen1837
a hill of beans1863
gubbins1918
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. lxxv/1 Toy a tryfell, truffe, friuolle.
1550 W. Lynne tr. J. Carion Thre Bks. Cronicles ii. f. lxxviiiv A tempest..whose vehemency shoulde be so greate, that all these slaughters and discomfitures whiche Grece had suffered of the Perses..compared to it, might be called but a triful & toie.
1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. vi. 171/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I To stand vpon such toies would spend much time.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. iii. 93 From this instant, There's nothing serious in Mortalitie: All is but Toyes . View more context for this quotation
1664 H. More Apol. in Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 554 If they leave not off their animosities and asperities of mind about toys and trifles.
1707 I. Watts Hymns & Spiritual Songs ii. 109 Look, how we grovel here below, And hug these trifling Toys.
1764 R. Lloyd Capricious Lovers iii. ii. 48 What's all the pomp of gaudy courts, But vain delights, and tinsel toys.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) ix. 74 But a title and a coach and four are toys more precious than happiness in Vanity Fair.
1866 A. M. Hall Way of World ii. 43 Amongst flowers, and books, and essences, and all the toys and trifles of a Parisian table.
1924 J. O'Neill Souls in Hell xv. 200 He wondered..why human beings should waste their lives seeking and fighting for the puerilities of existence; the things of a day, the things of little worth, the toys and baubles of ordinary life, when they could—if only they would—get nearer to the fundamentals of life.
b. spec. (derogatory). A religious practice, ceremony, object, etc., regarded as meaningless, worthless, or superstitious. Obsolete (rare in later use).Frequently used during the Reformation period by Protestant writers to refer to religious practices and objects associated with Roman Catholicism.In later use perhaps influenced by sense 7a.
ΚΠ
1531 W. Tyndale Answere Mores Dialoge f. v We heare but voyces with out significacion..and wonder at disguisinges and toyes wheroff we know no meaninge.
?1550 J. Bale Apol. agaynste Papyst To Rdr. f. viii Thys priesthode requireth neyther oyle nor shauen crown, neyther chalyce nor aulter, neyther myter nor cope, neither vestiment nor crosse, wyth such lyke toyes of Antichrist.
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes i. §29. 44 Of Popish toyes to pacifie God.
1696 J. Gailhard Disc. about Ceremonies, Church-government & Liturgy 120 He adviseth the Ministers of Poland to keep such Order in the Administration of Sacraments, as differeth most from the Toys and Ceremonies of Papists.
1733 D. Neal Hist. Puritans II. v. 305 The Pope's Legate, gain'd over several of the Gentry..by Presents of little Popish Toys and Pictures.
1852 H. Soames Romish Decalogue 33 One of their most conspicuous features are graven images,..lights about them, incense mounting up above them, [etc.]. Undoubtedly such toys and worship might find admirers in any large community, but not among the more masculine understandings.
5. A foolish, fanciful, or odd notion or conceit; a fancy, whim, caprice. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > capriciousness > a caprice or whim
fantasya1450
wantonness1531
humour1533
worm?a1534
will1542
toy?1545
whey-worm1548
wild worm1548
freak1563
crotchet1573
fancy1579
whim-wham1580
whirligig1589
caper1592
megrim1593
spleen1594
kicksey-winsey1599
fegary1600
humorousness1604
curiosity1605
conundrum1607
whimsy1607
windmill1612
buzza1616
capriccioa1616
quirka1616
flama1625
maggota1625
fantasticality1631
capruch1634
gimcrack1639
whimseycado1654
caprich1656
excursion1662
frisk1665
caprice1673
fita1680
grub1681
fantasque1697
whim1697
frolic1711
flight1717
whigmaleery1730
vagary1753
maddock1787
kink1803
fizgig1824
fad1834
whimmery1837
fantod1839
brain crack1853
whimsy-whamsy1871
tic1896
tick1900
?1545 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture sig. Bii Cast not thy eyes to & fro as one that were full of toyes.
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. x. 225 This people [sc. Tartarres] hath many supersticious toyes.
1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 161 Euen as the toy takes me in the head.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 98 So deadly doth this conceit and toy of his owne braine worke with him.
1699 R. L'Estrange Fables Moralized vii. 5 A New-marry'd Couple had a Toy took them in their Heads, so soon as ever the Office was over, to Shrift one another before they came together.
1828 J. G. Lockhart Life R. Burns in Edinb. Rev. Dec. 302 Who would not sigh over the thin delusions and foolish toys that divide heart from heart, and make man unmerciful to his brother!
II. Senses denoting an object, esp. one which is small or inferior, or which is used as a plaything.
6.
a. A small ornament or curiosity, esp. one of little intrinsic value; a showy or fancy article, esp. one worn for personal adornment; a knick-knack, trinket, gewgaw. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > [noun] > cheap or gaudy > gewgaw or trinket
baublec1330
gaudc1430
gayc1475
strincate1489
trim-tram1523
gewgawa1529
trinketa1533
toy1548
gaudy1555
baublery1583
trinkilo1631
jingle-jangle1640
prettiness1649
trinkum1665
knacka1677
knick-knack1682
trinkum-trankum1699
knick-knacket1793
knick-knackery1812
trankum1819
gaw1822
pretty1882
trinklet1897
mathom1954
tchotchke1968
1548 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1911) IX. 269 To the goldsmythes to be maid in ringes, targettis and otherres toyes to be gevyn at the mariage of Ladye Barbara.
1566 L. Wager Life & Repentaunce Marie Magdalene sig. C.iiii By your eares somtimes with pretie tusks & toyes You shall folde your haire like Tomboyes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 67 Heere is the cap... Why 'tis a cockle or a walnut-shell, A knacke, a toy, a tricke, a babies cap.
a1656 J. Hales Golden Remains (1659) i. 165 So like one another that one of them must wear a toy in his cap, that so the spectators may distinguish them.
1788 S. Rowson Inquisitor II. 6 They tie beads round the arms of his wife—and ornament her jetty locks with glittering toys.
1854 Ladies' Repository Nov. 161/2 A beautiful lady, who would..permit me to play with the shining toys that hung about her neck.
1880 B. Disraeli Endymion II. xxxii. 332 There was another table covered with trinkets and precious toys: snuff-boxes and patch-boxes beautifully painted, exquisite miniatures, rare fans, cups of agate, [etc.].
b. Something small, flimsy, or inferior compared to others of its kind (often with allusion to sense 7a). Frequently in a toy of a ——.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [noun] > that which is small > a small thing > thing small of its kind
decimo-sexto1594
diminutive1609
toy1665
a shrimp of aa1774
bantam1787
pygmy1838
yarkera1842
baby1847
smidgen1952
1665 T. Clifford Let. 7 Oct. in W. Temple Lett. (1700) II. 414 The East-India Ship that got into the River of Elve, is there unlading, and they are sending the Goods home in little small Vessels, under the Convoy only of a little Toy of eight or ten Guns.
1711 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 139 in Parl. Papers 1884–5 (C. 4576–I) XLII. 1 A weak town, haveing noe outward works, but a toy of a pallisade before a litle part of the wall.
1768 Tom Thumb's Folio i. 4 His Father was greatly disconcerted at having such a little tiney Toy of a Child.
1888 W. Black Strange Adventures House-boat xi Perched on the top of a hill was a conspicuous toy of a church.
1992 J. L. Burke Stained White Radiance (2010) ii. 52 A toy of a man stood in the doorway. He looked like a racehorse jockey, except his little body had the rigid lines of a weight lifter's.
2018 States News Service (Nexis) 28 June As big as this is, this is just a toy compared to the main facility.
c. English regional (chiefly west midlands). A small manufactured article made of metal or an alloy (esp. steel), such as a hammer, buckle, nail, etc. Now rare and chiefly historical.Often in steel toy.
ΚΠ
1732 Country Jrnl. 23 Sept. Fine steel snuffers, and great Variety of Steel Toys.
1747 Gen. Descr. All Trades 18 They principally deal in..all sorts of Tools, smaller Utensils, and Toys, in Iron, Steel, Brass, &c. made at London, and the great trading Towns of Birmingham..and Sheffield.
1760 in Jrnls. House of Commons (1803) 28 883/2 The Demand for Toys in general has been very great, which has laid the other Manufacturers under as many Difficulties as the Buckle-makers, to get their Orders executed.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 319 Heavy Steel Toys. By this not very appropriate description the Birmingham manufacturers refer to a class of articles... To enumerate all the ‘toys’ of this class would be to transcribe a large list of miscellaneous cheap and useful wares, from a joiner's hammer to a shoemaker's tack.
1987 Hist. Jrnl. 30 222 A history of domestic outwork and workshops rather than factories, of Birmingham toys and Sheffield cutlery rather than Lancashire cotton.
d. Criminals' slang. A watch. Frequently in toy and tackle: a watch and chain. Now rare and dated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > watch > [noun]
clock1559
pocket watch?1576
watch1590
munter1594
tattler1688
loge1699
yack1789
thimble1819
ticker1821
toy1826
super1857
kettle1889
1826 Sessions Papers 21 Sept. 546/2 James Boyce..said ‘The b—g—r has got no toy’; I had no watch.
1877 J. W. Horsley Jottings from Jail (1887) i. 17 He was very tricky at getting a poge or a toy, but he would not touch toys because we was afraid of being turned over.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 June 2/1 Should he remain in blind ignorance the ‘toy’ and ‘tackle’ are transferred to the handkerchief.
1912 E. Pugh City of World x. 274 He's got to know whether his toy and tackle is a real clock and slang or only a measly Brummagem fake.
1953 L. Gordon Peepshow into Paradise i. i. 18 In the underworld the word has another import, for in thieves' slang a ‘toy and tackle’ means a watch and chain, and a ‘toy getter’ the ancient calling of watch-stealer.
e. U.S. slang. Also in form toey. A small tin or jar containing opium. Hence: a quantity of opium (originally the amount held in such a container). Now dated.Recorded earliest in hop toy n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > equipment for taking drugs > equipment for taking opium
pipe1779
layout1869
hop toy1881
toy1881
yen hock1882
yen siang1882
hop-pipe1887
yen hop1901
cooker1905
cooking spoon1917
stem1925
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > medicine chest, bag, etc. > [noun] > tin or jar
albarello1873
toy1881
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > sedatives, antispasmodics, etc. > [noun] > narcotic > plant-derived > specific amount
toy1951
1881 Med. Record (N.Y.) 5 Nov. 512/1 I procured a full outfit for smoking [opium]..: A pipe, a small glass lamp,..and a buffalo-horn box (hop toy) for holding the opium.
1915 G. Bronson-Howard God's Man ii. ii. 127 Sonia..dug out the chocolate-colored opium from a little white jar, a ‘toey’, cooking it over a steady flame.
1951 G. Fowler Schnozzola viii. 88 You had six toys at five dollars a toy.
1961 H. J. Anslinger & W. Oursler Murderers ii. 29 All we found were some empty ‘toys’ of opium.
1961 Dissent 8 349 Opium itself is often available. However, it is expensive ($15–20 for a toy, a ball about the size of a large pea).
1989 J. Courtwright et al. Addicts who Survived (2012) i. iii. 83 I smoked a toy a day, same as on the ship.
7.
a. An object for children to play with, often a model or miniature replica of something; a plaything. In early use more fully playing toy. Also figurative.Now the most common sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > [noun]
beaubeletc1205
juelet1340
trifle1375
geara1400
gaudc1430
jape1436
playing thing1440
baublea1475
playock1508
gewgawa1529
toy?1565
gay1577
gambol1579
ruggle1598
frolic1650
playthinga1674
wally1692
sporting-piece1740
playferea1774
play material1897
play-pretty1905
?1565 A. Hartwell in tr. W. Haddon Sight of Portugall Pearle Ep. Ded. sig. Aivv Whose people blinding plaies & stratagemmes in sowyng of rumors, defaming of the persons, hastninge of prynted papers, myghte not (of reason) so wel lyke them, in that they are but crepitacula, childrens toies.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iv. sig. Nn3v There was neuer poore scholler, that hauing instede of his booke some playing toy about him, did more sodainly cast it from him.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man iii. 145 The ruggles and toyes, which children vse to playe with.
1631 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. (ed. 2) (2nd state) §xcviii Wee cry for every toye; even that, which may most hurt us.
1672 R. Wild Poetica Licentia in Let. Declar. Liberty Conscience 29 We all know Popes-head-Alley trades in Toyes, Our Merchants come not thither, but our Boys.
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 148 Men deal with life, as children with their play, Who first misuse, then cast their toys away.
1881 R. L. Stevenson Child's Play in Virginibus Puerisque (1905) 157 Lead soldiers, dolls, all toys, in short, are in the same category.
1918 M. Buchanan City of Trouble i. 6 ‘What is an army for?’..‘Just a toy for Kings and Emperors to play with’.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 106/4 A grand playroom where toys and things can be scattered about without disturbing the serenity of the rest of the house.
2019 Swindon Advertiser (Nexis) 16 Dec. The pair walked to the back of the house, glancing at the brightly-coloured children's toys in the garden.
b. Chiefly somewhat depreciative. An object designed for amusement rather than for practical use. Chiefly in a mere toy.
ΚΠ
1825 M. Edgeworth Harry & Lucy Concluded III. 271 Another philosopher calls all the ordinary hygrometers mere toys.
1893 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 14 The very low-priced sets [of photographic apparatus]..are generally mere toys.
2007 M. K. Carson Alexander Graham Bell vii. 68 The Western Union Telegraph Company's president declared Bell's telephone a mere toy and turned down the offer.
c. An object, esp. a gadget or vehicle, regarded as providing amusement for an adult (typically a man). Often depreciative.Cf. boy toy n. 1, toys for (the) boys, boys and their toys at Phrases 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > thing or material object
thingOE
bodya1398
objecta1398
substance1525
cheat1567
solidity1604
article1618
material objecta1651
res extensa1652
extensum1678
businessa1684
animal1729
materiate1755
affair1763
thingy1787
fellow1816
concern1824
jockey1827
toy1895
yoke1910
doojigger1927
bitch1951
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means > equipment for any action or undertaking > a device or contrivance > gadget
jigger1874
gadget1885
timenoguy1886
toy1895
widget1924
gimmick1926
boondoggle1935
gizmo1943
1895 ‘Ouida’ Toxin xi. 116 ‘The schooner is entirely at your disposition.’..‘Thanks. Yachts are rich men's toys for which I have no use.’
1908 Motor World 2 Jan. 679/2 He offers his car for sale to a dealer... If the owner thinks his toy is worth anything at all, he will refuse to sell it at..a low figure.
1977 S. Marshak & M. Culbreath Price of Phoenix v. 32 Spock was becoming insufferably tired of the man, his macho mannerisms, his toys.
1989 T. Clancy Clear & Present Danger (1990) 386 The dick-head parked the truck right next to the house... Perhaps he didn't want to take his eyes off his new toy.
2013 Sailplane & Gliding Apr. 44/1 (caption) The exhibition areas were bustling as delegates checked out the latest toys.
8. Scottish. A close-fitting cap or headdress worn by women and girls (esp. of lower social status), made of linen or wool, and having flaps coming down to the shoulders. Cf. toy-mutch n. at Compounds 3. Obsolete (historical in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > close-fitting > with flaps
pinner1575
settee1688
toy1702
toy-mutch1751
1702 Cramond Kirk Session V. 39 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) William Carle..confessed he drew off the toy from Margaret Coupar's head.
1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (new ed.) I. 17 Their Toys and Mutches were sae clean, They glanced in our Ladses een.
1793 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. IX. 325 The tenants wives wore toys of linen of the coarsest kind, upon their heads, when they went to church, fairs or market.
1816 W. Scott Old Mortality x, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. IV. 231 The face of Alison..now presented itself, enveloped in a toy.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. iv. 65 An elderly woman, in a grey stuff gown, with a check apron and toy.
1900 H. G. Graham Social Life Scotl. 18th Cent. (1901) v. vi. 181 Farmers' wives and daughters with ‘toys’ or head-covering of coarse linen.
9. In plural with singular agreement. Winchester College slang. A bureau or desk; a cubicle used as a study.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > desk > [noun]
deskc1405
lectern1509
dess1552
book desk1686
prie-dieu1687
bureau1698
secretary1803
toys1816
secretaire1818
consulting-desk1823
slope1833
box-desk1860
roll-top1884
type-desk1901
partners' desk1925
partners' pedestal desk1930
console1944
society > education > place of education > educational buildings > [noun] > college or university buildings > desk or cubicle for study
toys1816
1816 Hist. Colleges Winchester, Eton & Westm. (1817) Winchester Coll. 43 Besides his scob, every boy has, in the chamber to which he belongs, another receptacle for his books, with convenience for writing, &c. denominated, in the language of the place, Toys.
1901 Public School Mag. 7 158/1 A series of small compartments, semi-secluded, but answering in their way to private studies. Each of these little dens is known as ‘Toys’.
1974 K. Clark Another Part of Wood ii. 74 We all sat in the same large enclosure, round the walls of which were small partitions (known as toyes) like uncomfortable polling booths, with just enough room for two shelves, one to serve as a seat and the other as a desk.
2014 Insight (Winchester Coll.) 10 Mar. 8 An opening of a cupboard door in one's toys in order to block off the entrance when wanting not to be disturbed.
III. Senses denoting a person or animal, in figurative or extended applications of senses in branches I. and II.
10.
a. A person regarded as of little importance or worth. Cf. sense 4a. Obsolete.In quot. 1822 used affectionately as a term of endearment: a darling, a pet (cf. sense 6).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > puppet or toy
hackneya1500
toy1573
creature1587
puppet1592
motion1602
baublea1616
plaything1680
dummy1866
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of little worth
toy1573
puny1579
puisne1592
urchin1593
short-arse1706
rip1781
snip-jack1846
twopence1866
jerk1935
the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun]
darlingc888
belamy?c1225
culver?c1225
dearc1230
sweetheartc1290
heartc1300
sweetc1330
honeya1375
dovec1386
jewelc1400
birdc1405
cinnamonc1405
honeycombc1405
lovec1405
wantonc1450
mulling?a1475
daisyc1485
crowdy-mowdy?a1513
honeysop?a1513
powsowdie?a1513
suckler?a1513
foolc1525
buttinga1529
whitinga1529
beautiful1534
turtle-dove1535
soula1538
heartikin1540
bully?1548
turtle1548
lamba1556
nyletc1557
sweet-lovea1560
coz1563
ding-ding1564
pugs1566
golpol1568
sparling1570
lover1573
pug1580
bulkin1582
mopsy1582
chuck1589
bonny1594
chick1594
sweetikin1596
ladybird1597
angel1598
muss1598
pinkany1599
sweetkin1599
duck1600
joy1600
sparrowc1600
sucket1605
nutting1606
chuckaby1607
tickling1607
bagpudding1608
heartling1608
chucking1609
dainty1611
flittermouse1612
honeysuckle1613
fubs1614
bawcocka1616
pretty1616
old thinga1625
bun1627
duckling1630
bulchin1633
bulch?c1640
sweetling1648
friscoa1652
ding-dongs1662
buntinga1668
cocky1680
dearie1681
chucky1683
lovey1684
machree1689
nykin1693
pinkaninny1696
nug1699
hinny1724
puss1753
pet1767
dovey1769
sweetie1778
lovey-dovey1781
lovely1791
ducky1819
toy1822
acushla1825
alanna1825
treat1825
amigo1830
honey child1832
macushla1834
cabbage1840
honey-bunch1874
angel pie1878
m'dear1887
bach1889
honey baby1895
prawn1895
hon1896
so-and-so1897
cariad1899
pumpkin1900
honey-bun1902
pussums1912
snookums1919
treasure1920
wogger1922
amico1929
sugar1930
baby cake1949
angel cake1951
lamb-chop1962
petal1974
bae2006
1573 G. Gascoigne Hundreth Sundrie Flowres 377 Remembre Batte the foolishe blinkeyed boye Whiche was at Rome, thou knowest whome I meane, Remember eke the preatie beardlesse toye, Whereby thou foundst a safe returne to Geane.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) v. v. 41 Elues, list your names: Silence you aiery toyes . View more context for this quotation
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse iv. vii. 57 in Wks. II I ha' sworne to ha' him by the eares: I feare The toy, wi' not do me right.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar iv. ii. 61 O, Vertue! Vertue!..That men should leave thee for that Toy a Woman.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) i. ii. 19 Thou idle, gilded, and degraded toy.
1822 T. Mitchell tr. Aristophanes Wasps in tr. Aristophanes Comedies II. 171 Why, Xanthias, my toy, Why, what ails the poor boy!
1888 R. L. Stevenson Black Arrow i. iii. 46 This toy..that's not fit for wounds or warfare.
b. A person used by someone else as a plaything. Cf. sense 7a.
ΚΠ
1831 O. Moore Staff Officer I. xxix. 310 I was played with as a toy for nearly an hour, during which time we danced, three couple and a half, to Miss Maria's music.
1883 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 317 A Russian..being a mere toy in the hands of the commonest policeman.
1975 G. Rabassa tr. M. Vargas Llosa Conversat. in Cathedral iv. iv. 523 She'd discovered that you didn't love her, that she was just a toy for you.
2019 Scottish Daily Mail (Nexis) 7 Mar. 31 The awful truth is that they [sc. the boys] were just toys to him—playthings which he used and abused and then tossed aside once he had grown bored of them.
11.
a. Short for toy pigeon at Compounds 1a(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > miscellaneous types of
nutmeg pigeon1783
blue pigeon1790
Namaqua dove1801
mountain witch1823
partridge pigeon1823
imperial pigeon1830
toy1831
porcelain1855
toothbill1862
fruit-pigeon1865
orange dove1875
tambourine pigeon1891
topknot pigeon1891
cinnamon dove1895
partridge1936
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > domestic pigeon > [noun] > other types
porcelainc1530
turn-pate1611
light horseman1661
runt1661
smiter1668
helmet1676
mammet1678
Cortbeck1688
turbit1688
turner1688
dragoon1725
finicking1725
Leghorn1725
nun1725
owl1725
petit1725
trumpeter1725
horseman1735
Mahomet1735
barbel1736
turn-tail1736
frill-back1765
blue rock1825
beard1826
ice pigeon1829
toy1831
black1839
skinnum1839
splash1851
whole-feather1851
spangle1854
swallow1854
shield1855
stork pigeon1855
Swabian1855
yellow1855
archangel1867
dragon1867
starling1867
magpie1868
smerle1869
bluette1870
cumulet1876
oriental1876
spot fairy1876
turbiteen1876
blondinette1879
hyacinth1879
Modena pigeon1879
silver-dun1879
silverette1879
silver-mealy1879
swift pigeon1879
Victoria1879
visor1879
ice1881
swallow pigeon1881
velvet fairy1881
priesta1889
frill1890
1831 Genesee (Rochester, N.Y.) Farmer 17 Dec. 396/3 I advise young fanciers, to obtain the finest birds, and not to begin with what are called ‘the Toys’, such as Barbs, Spots, Mawmits, Uplopers, &c.
1855 Poultry Chron. 3 33/2 The pretty Nun is truly a toy, having but one [property], namely, feather.
1969 G. F. Twombly Internat. Pigeon Standard (ed. 15) 104 As is the case with other of the Toys it is a color pigeon and principally bred for color and markings.
2001 Game Bird & Conservationists' Gaz. Aug. 27/1 In the mid 1980s the Southern California German Toy Pigeon Club decided the name ‘German Toy’ was a misnomer and dropped ‘German Toy’. The new name was ‘Southern California Color Pigeon Club’.
b. Short for toy dog at Compounds 1a(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > other types of dog > [noun] > toy
toy1848
miniature1902
1848 Bell's Life in London 2 Apr. 6/5 A show of toy terriers will take place at Mr Johnson's..this evening, when several first-rate toys will be shown.
1899 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Oct. 9/1 Ladies' toys were in strong force... Sporting dogs were not numerous.
1903 Daily Chron. 25 May 5/2 The ‘chiens de luxe’, or Toys, are in a roomy and well-warmed ‘pavillon’ by themselves.
2010 E. Adamson et al. Dogs for Dummies v. i. 496 Even the tiniest Toy needs a short daily walk, romp, or play session to stay fit.

Phrases

P1. to take (a) toy to (also at): to take a foolish or irrational dislike or aversion to. Similarly also in to take a toy, without construction. Obsolete.In quot. a1625: to take fright, start, shy at something.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > dislike > [verb (transitive)]
mislikea1225
to like illa1350
to have no fancy with1465
mislovec1485
abominec1500
not to look ata1529
to have no will of, (also in)1548
misaffect1586
to have or take a stitch againsta1591
dislike1593
to take (a) toy to (also at)1598
disfavour1599
disgust1601
disaffect1609
mistaste1613
disrelisha1616
dispalate1630
abominate1652
disfancy1657
to have it in for1825
to have a down on1835
to sour on1862
to go off ——1877
derry1896
1598 G. Chapman in C. Marlowe & G. Chapman Hero & Leander (new ed.) v. sig. M To heare [this]..Made the well-spoken Nymph take such a toy, That downe she sunke.
a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) v. vi. 66 The hot horse, hot as fire Tooke Toy at this. View more context for this quotation
1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 277 Common friends many times..take toy at a trifle,..and pick quarrels to desert us.
1697 J. Sergeant Solid Philos. 308 Thence they take a Toy at Metaphysics, and pretend it insuperably hard and mysterious.
1753 Country Gentleman's Compan. II. 48 Make her both familiar with Men, Dogs, and Horses; for, to take Toy or Dislike to any of them, is a Mischief a great deal worse.
P2.
a. (like) a kid (also child) with a new toy: used to indicate that a person (usually an adult) is delighted with or excited by something, esp. a newly-acquired novelty or device.
ΚΠ
1807 M. A. Radcliffe Let. in Memoirs (1810) ii. 25 But, like a child with a new toy, I was delighted with the novelty of the undertaking.
1913 Motor World Wholesale 6 Sept. 31/1 He was like a kid with a new toy... It was..a small, portable, but none the less heavy, blacksmith's forge.
1980 Washington Post (Nexis) 24 June d6 At Wimbledon today... Nastase..saved his greatest routines for the ‘electronic eyes’... He rolled balls at them, and dropped them on the lines to see if he could fool them. He was a kid with a new toy.
2012 D. Kauffman Babycakes 128 Lani had jumped straight into the new project like a kid with a new toy.
b. like a kid (also child) in a toy shop: see toy shop n. Phrases. like a kid in a toy store: see toy store n. Phrases.
P3. colloquial (chiefly British and Australian). to throw (also chuck) one's toys out of the pram (also cot) and variants: to behave childishly and petulantly; to throw a tantrum; to sulk.
ΚΠ
1947 N. Balchin Lord, I was Afraid 180 Jerry's [i.e. the German army] throwing his toys out of the pram. Hard pounding gentlemen.
1989 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 26 Aug. (Great Weekend section) 6/5 The woman was too much. I wanted to throw my toys out of the cot.
2000 Racing Post (Nexis) 12 July 8 The Channel 4 board aren't chucking toys out of the pram, they are genuinely exasperated.
2003 Heat 4 Jan. 113/1 You could help your romantic cause by not throwing your toys out of the pram every time things don't go your way.
P4. colloquial (to have) toys in the (also one's) attic and variants: (to be) simple-minded, crazy, or eccentric, esp. in a regressive or childlike manner. Cf. (to have) bats in the belfry at bat n.1 b.
ΚΠ
1968 Reporter (‎Passaic County Bar Assoc.) Feb. 5/2 I think Bill Brennan ought to check up on the old bird to see if he has toys in his attic. It's just too absurd for words.
1977 J. Sayles Union Dues (2006) 316 Another one with toys in the attic... Blends right in with the surroundings.
1986 S. King It 770 That Canal's so polluted nothing could live in it, not even a minnow. And you think you saw Jaws in there. You got toys in the attic, Tommy.
2017 @ADIC33 4 July in twitter.com (accessed 9 Jan. 2020) There's no doubt about it..dude's got toys in the attic for sure!
P5. toys for (the) boys: objects such as cars, mechanical and electronic gadgets, etc., regarded (often depreciatively) as providing amusement for men. Similarly boys and their toys, boys with toys, etc.Cf. sense 7c.
ΚΠ
1986 Advertiser (Adelaide) 18 Apr. 45 Any fool can make a program about the space shuttle... It's Buck Rogers, rocketships, planes, submarines, toys for the boys.
1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 17 May l1 Men go for the higher-ticket items. The old saying about boys and their toys is very appropriate here. Men buy expensive cars and boats.
1997 Guardian 6 Dec. d16 (heading) Toys for boys..: Rupert Jones sorts out the weird from the most wonderful of gadgets.
2013 L. S. Caton Cull 102 ‘I like your big new Humvee,’ said Debbie. ‘Toys for the boys.’

Compounds

C1.
a.
(a) As a modifier, designating any of numerous varieties of pigeon bred for the colour or pattern of their plumage (rather than for any other characteristic), or a bird of such a breed, as in toy pigeon, toy variety. Cf. sense 11a.
ΚΠ
1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 117 They are by far the most pleasing of any of the toy Pigeons whatever.
1868 C. Darwin Variation Animals & Plants I. vi. 187 Those pigeon-fanciers..yet admit that the so-called toy-pigeons, which differ from the rock-pigeon in little except in colour, are descended from this bird.
1877 Pet-stock, Pigeon & Poultry Bull. Feb. 217/1 This beautiful toy variety seem to be more cultivated in Baltimore than elsewhere.
1957 D. Le Roi Pigeons, Doves, & Pigeon-racing i. 15 So called because of the yellow or red crescent-shaped stripe on its breast and wings, the Crescent is a toy pigeon that originated in Saxony.
(b) As a modifier, designating any of various breeds of dog of particularly small size, typically kept as house pets, or an animal of such a breed, as in toy breed, toy dog, toy poodle, toy spaniel, toy terrier, etc. Cf. sense 11b.Toy dogs as a class include both small varieties of larger types (such as the toy poodle and the Italian greyhound) and distinct small breeds (such as the Pomeranian and the chihuahua).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > other types of dog > [adjective] > toy
puppetly1576
Melitan1600
Melitaean1607
toy1806
miniature1903
1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 1 July in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1993) VIII. 76 They will generally set and bark at you.., their note being much that of the little toy dogs.
1848 Bell's Life in London 2 Apr. 6/5 A show of toy terriers will take place.
1878 J. H. Walsh Dogs Brit. Islands (ed. 3) App. 239 There are..two grand classes of modern poodles—one which is still strictly sporting, and one which should include performing, companion, and toy poodles.
1980 D. F. Tortora Right Dog for You (1983) App. B. 341 All Toy breeds are described as needing little outdoor exercise, primarily because they can get all the exercise they need running around the house or apartment.
2012 J. S. Bell et al. Vet. Med. Guide Dog & Cat Breeds 199/1 Toy Spaniels were used for hunting, and this breed was favored for woodcocks.
b. As a modifier, designating a small model or imitation of an ordinary object used as a plaything, as in toy car, toy gun, toy piano, toy train, etc.
ΚΠ
1793 Leeds Intelligencer 11 Mar. The pistol she pretended to shoot Mr. B. with, was found to be a toy gun with a tin barrel to it.
1841 Punch 16 Oct. 165/1 A stethescope—a curious instrument, something like a sixpenny toy trumpet with its top knocked off.
1889 P. N. Hasluck Model Engineer's Handybk. 24 The most simple form of toy-engine is that illustrated below.
1897 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 480 The babies had toy-animals on wheels.
1978 N. Freeling Night Lords ii. 11 The bandits..were pathetic imbeciles armed with toy pistols.
2004 A. Hollinghurst Line of Beauty viii. 211 Little Antoine had a remote-controlled toy car, which Wani was encouraging him to crash into..tables and chairs.
c. figurative. Chiefly depreciative. As a modifier, designating a thing which is small, flimsy, inferior, or of little importance, as if designed for amusement rather than for practical use. Occasionally also with reference to a person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > insubstantial
thin?c1225
lighta1413
superficiala1425
sleevelessc1450
frivolous1549
frothy1593
windy1593
shallow1594
airy1600
ghostlessa1603
sleazy1648
tenuious1656
wishy-washy1693
gauzy1774
lathery1803
wish-washy1814
tenuousa1817
toy1821
flimsy1827
airy-fairy1857
facile1857
feeblish1882
popcorn1973
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > small of its kind
demi1418
young1550
minikin1566
dwarf-like1582
diminutive1602
minitive?1602
diminute1611
pocket1621
Lilliputian1726
duodecimo1780
toy1821
minified1841
junior1860
toy-sized1861
Lilliput1867
toyish1871
mini1963
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. xvi. 332 You go not to your gew-gaw toy-house yonder—you will sleep tonight in better security.
1855 H. Martineau Autobiogr. (1877) I. 437 My surprise at the smallness and toy-character of Abbotsford was extreme.
1895 M. E. Braddon in Westm. Gaz. 6 Nov. 1/3 A very popular writer may launch three of these toy-pinnaces in a year.
1909 Daily Chron. 19 Feb. 3/2 Ruritana was something more than the first toy-kingdom of our modern stage.
2007 Africa News (Nexis) 7 July Ghanaians want a real leader not a toy president, not a ventriloquist!
C2.
a. As a modifier, with the sense ‘of or for toys’, as in toy box, toy cupboard, toy fair, etc.Now chiefly in sense 7a; in early use also in senses 6a or 6c.
ΚΠ
1747 Inventory J. Laurens Estate 12 Sept. in H. Laurens Papers (1968) I. 380 Small Painted Toy boxes.
1756 Authentic Acct. all Fairs Eng. & Wales 60 Hockham, Easter Monday, A small toy fair.
1827 W. Parson & W. White Hist., Directory & Gazetteer Durham & Northumberland I. 32 France William, perfumer and toy warehouse.
1873 Harper's New Monthly Mag. Feb. 379/2 Three double lines of gingerbread-nut and toy stalls led up to the ‘Angel Inn’.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 11 Dec. 12/1 The season for the ransacking of toy-cupboards.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 1/2 The order..that there shall be no toy-fairs in London this Christmastide deprives the City of..one of its sights.
1965 Overseas Business (U.S. Dept. Commerce) Nov. 3/2 The buying habits of French parents are the most limiting factor in the toy market. Toy sales are much more seasonal than in the United States.
2013 M. Zailckas Mother, Mother (2014) 102 The toy boxes overflowed with decades' worth of Happy Meal toys.
b. With participles, agent nouns, or verbal nouns, forming compounds in which toy expresses the object of the underlying verb, as in toy dealer, toy-making, toy retailer, etc.Now chiefly in sense 7a; in early use also in senses 6a or 6c.
ΚΠ
1778 Gazetteer & New Daily Advertiser 21 Aug. All the genuine Stock in Trade of Mr. George Bentley,..Hardwareman and Toy Dealer; consisting of variety of London, Sheffield and Birmingham ware.
1779 H. D. Steel Portable Instr. purchasing Drugs & Spices 11 For any purpose but toy-making it [sc. azure] is most valuable the less it has of these variegations.
1830 B. Disraeli Let. 20 Aug. (1982) I. 148 Some travelling toy dealers from Malag.
1959 Times 24 Feb. 13/4 A toy making factory..for the manufacture of fibreglass toys, kiddy cars, and rocking horses.
1993 Model & Collectors Mart Nov. 20/1 No true toy collector can afford to miss the NEC show!
2004 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Aug. 27/2 Toy retailers who..brought to market G.I. Joe figures that they had customized.
c. With past participles, forming compounds with the sense ‘with or by a toy or toys’, as in toy-filled, toy-strewn, etc.Now chiefly in sense 7a; in quot. 1796 probably in sense 4a.
ΚΠ
1796 S. T. Coleridge Relig. Musings in Poems Var. Subj. 150 We become An Anarchy of Spirits! Toy-bewitch'd.
1861 G. A. Sala Seven Sons Mammon ii. in Temple Bar Jan. 277 The toy-laden branches of the Christmas-tree.
1980 H. Young What Difference does it make, Danny? ii. 23 Danny was taken firmly to the vast toy-strewn playroom.
2005 S. Sanders et al. Oxf. Handbk. Found. Program (2006) viii. 302 Most departments have a separate children's area with paediatric medical equipment and a separate toy-filled waiting room.
C3. See also toy man n., toy shop n., toy store n., toytown n., toywort n.
toy block n. one of a set of blocks for children to play with, typically made from wood or plastic, and often with pictures or letters of the alphabet on them.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > toy bricks
brick1829
toy block1859
1859 German Reformed Messenger (Chambersburg, Pa.) 6 July 4/2 A fair, delicate boy of four years sat on the parlor carpet, building a house with toy blocks.
2019 Business Mirror (Philippines) (Nexis) 8 June Among traditional toys, toy blocks are the most played with and regarded by many parents as a ‘must-have’ toy.
toy book n. chiefly U.S. a children's book.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > [noun] > children's book
toy book1797
nursery book1818
juvenile1849
rag book1903
1797 in J. Willison Sacramental Directory (new ed.) (advt.) Children's Toy-books, and Lottery Pictures.
1801 M. L. Weems Let. 10 Mar. in Ford's M. L. Weems: Wks. & Ways (1929) II. 177 I sell the Primers & toy books wholesale at great discount.
1865 (title) Aunt Louisa's Toy Books.
2016 UK Govt. News (Nexis) 5 July Baby gyms; fabric toy books; learning toys; stacking toys.
toy cap n. an explosive cap (cap n.1 14b) used in a toy gun.
ΚΠ
1872 Terre Haute (Indiana) Gaz. 9 Dec. (advt.) Toy Watches, Bowls and Pitchers, Pistols with real toy caps.
2006 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 21 June (Business section) 1 Toy caps for a child's pistol.
toy designer n. a person who designs, creates, or invents toys, esp. as a profession.
ΚΠ
1897 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos 28 Dec. The toy designer..says that a common fault of toymakers, but one into which women are less apt to fall than men, is the marketing of too complicated articles.
1989 Smithsonian Dec. 73/1 The life of the modern toy designer is an unending search for the next..Rubik's Cube, the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
2013 Radio Times 30 Nov. (South/West ed.) 82/3 An overeager toy designer installs state-of-the-art military microchips into a line of action figures.
toy drama n. now chiefly historical a play or scene written for or enacted in a toy theatre; drama for a toy theatre.
ΚΠ
1862 Dublin Evening Mail 29 Dec. 2/2 Those toy dramas which puzzle and delight the young.
1912 Current Lit. Sept. 334 ‘The Scourge of the Gulph’, one of Yeats's toy dramas.
1931 Notes & Queries 11 Apr. 253/2 Mr. Webb was the principal exhibitor at an exhibition of the toy drama, held at the Faculty of Arts Gallery in August.
2014 M. Root-Bernstein Inventing Imaginary Worlds iii. vii. 104 Stevenson introduced the boy, at this time around twelve years old, to the painting of toy theater scenes and the arranging of toy dramas.
toy getter n. Criminals' slang (now rare and dated) a person who steals watches (cf. sense 6d).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > of watches
hooker1834
watchmaker1859
thimble-screwer1862
toy getter1879
1879 Macmillan's Mag. Oct. 502/1 The following people used to go in there—toy-getters (watch-stealers), magsmen (confidence-trick men), [etc.].
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago 102 Dicky knew the small man for a good toy-getter.
1953 L. Gordon Peepshow into Paradise i. i. 18 In thieves' slang a ‘toy and tackle’ means a watch and chain, and a ‘toy getter’ the ancient calling of watch-stealer.
toy-getting n. Criminals' slang Obsolete the action or practice of stealing watches (cf. sense 6d).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > [noun] > watches
super-screwing1857
toy-getting1887
1887 A. Barrère Argot & Slang 142/1 To steal watches, ‘toy getting’.
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago xxiv. 239 The gains of the toy-getting trade were poor, except to the fence.
toy-headed adj. Obsolete having odd ideas in the head; capricious, whimsical; cf. sense 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > capricious or whimsical
startfulmood?a1300
wildc1350
volage?a1366
gerfulc1374
geryc1386
wild-headeda1400
skittishc1412
gerish1430
shittle1440
shittle-witted1448
runningc1449
volageous1487
glaikit1488
fantasious1490
giggish1523
tickle or light of the sear?1530
fantastical1531
wayward1531
wantona1538
peevish1539
light-headed1549
humoral1573
unstaid1579
shittle-headed1580
toy-headed1581
fangled1587
humorous1589
choiceful1591
toyish1598
tricksy1598
skip-brain1603
capricious1605
humoursome1607
planetary1607
vertiginous1609
whimsieda1625
ingiddied1628
whimsy1637
toysome1638
cocklec1640
mercurial1647
garish1650
maggoty1650
kicksey-winseya1652
freakish1653
humourish1653
planetic1653
whimsical1653
shittle-braineda1655
freaking1663
maggoty-headed1667
maggot-pated1681
hoity-toity1690
maggotish1693
maggot-headeda1695
whimsy-headed1699
fantasque1701
crotchetly1702
quixotic1718
volatile1719
holloweda1734
conundrumical1743
flighty1768
fly-away1775
dizzy1780
whimmy1785
shy1787
whimming1787
quirky1789
notional1791
tricksome1815
vagarish1819
freakful1820
faddy1824
moodish1827
mawky1837
erratic1841
rockety1843
quirkish1848
maggoty-pated1850
crotchetya1854
freaksome1854
faddish1855
vagrom1882
fantasied1883
vagarisome1883
on-and-offish1888
tricksical1889
freaky1891
hobby-horsical1893
quirksome1896
temperamental1907
up and down1960
untogether1969
fanciful-
fantastic-
1581 T. Stocker tr. J. Calvin Diuers Serm. f. 161v Euery of vs ought to withdraw his mind from being so fantasticall, and not wittingly, be so toy headed.
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 1) 390 It stickes upon the stomacke of some toy-headed Professours.
toy industry n. the branch of commercial activity concerned with the manufacture and sale of toys.
ΚΠ
1875 Inter Ocean (Chicago) 16 Jan. 7/5 The Sonneberg toy industry, which arose in the southwestern part of the Thuringian Forest,..dates from the thirteenth century.
1961 Times 22 Dec. 9/7 Since 1938, the British toy industry has increased the worth of toys produced from £500,000 to the present figure of £42m.
2016 J.-P. C. Dyson in H. Lowood & R. Guins Debugging Game Hist. xlvii. 402 For centuries, there have been well-established toy manufacturers and a thriving toy industry. This toy industry grew enormously during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the rise of a prosperous middle class.
toy land n. (a) the world of toys, esp. a fanciful or imaginary realm inhabited by toys; (b) the toy industry; (c) a display of toys, often whimsical or seasonal in nature, typically set up in a toy shop, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shop selling toys
toy shop1681
toy store1822
toy land1853
playshop1889
1853 Observer 25 Dec. 6/1 King Hummingtop and his tiptop army, a fleet of kites, Ambassador Jack-in-the-Box, an other inhabitants of Toyland, successively appear.
1908 Daily Chron. 5 Nov. 7/5 No one realises unless he penetrates into Toyland how much whimsical humour, how much scientific skill and craftsman's ingenuity are devoted to the invention of the playthings for the festive season.
1958 Newsweek 15 Dec. 56/1 Queen Elizabeth II, on her annual visit to a department-store toyland to choose Christmas gifts, intrigued her entourage by stopping in front of the hula hoops.
2016 Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) (Nexis) 29 Dec. Spider-Man, one of the best-selling of all Marvel's characters in toy land, should be in-demand.
toy library n. a collection of toys or games, from which items may be borrowed or hired by or for children; a place where toys may be borrowed or hired.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > borrowing > [noun] > where things can be borrowed
toy library1928
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > [noun] > collection which may be borrowed
toy library1928
1928 Port Adelaide News 26 Oct. 6/7 To enable children to have the right variety she suggests the circulating toy library.
1969 Gravesend Reporter 9 May 3/1 The Thames-side Toy Library, the second of its kind in the country, opened on Saturday.
2020 Hawke's Bay (N.Z.) Today 18 Jan. a2 The toy library is an affordable way to add variety and interest to your child's play.
toy line n. now rare (chiefly historical) a small narrow-gauge railway, often originally constructed for industrial purposes, but subsequently carrying tourists or other passengers; = toy railway n. (b).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > of specific construction > narrow gauge
toy railway1852
toy line1865
Decauville1899
1865 London Society Oct. 371/2 We are all waiting for the return of the train which is to take us away along the little toy line to Llandudno.
1878 H. I. Jenkinson Guide N. Wales 271 Leaving the Cambrian train at Mynffordd Junction, the traveller walks up a path to the toy line, and enters one of the little carriages.
1999 A. J. Smith Privatized Infrastructure iv. 51 In July 1864 a British merchant..constructed a toy line about one third of a mile long outside the Hsuen Wu Gate in Peking.
toymaker n. a person who or company which makes or manufactures toys.Early examples may refer to a maker of small ornaments and trinkets (cf. senses 6a, 6c), rather than children's toys (the current and predominant sense).
ΚΠ
1677 Poor Robins Intelligence 13 Nov. A certain Toy maker coming home a little tipsifyed.
1738 London Daily Post 24 June John Pinchbeck, Chaser and Toy-maker..has, for the better accommodating Gentlemen, Ladies, and Merchants with his Toys in his curious Metal, taken a Shop the Corner of St. Michael's Alley.
1859 Habits Good Society (new ed.) v. 194 Worth all the amusements which a toy-maker could dream of.
2003 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. ix. 1/5 Though full development of a new toy takes months, toymakers and retailers..have been quick off the mark.
toy manufacture n. the process or industry of manufacturing toys; (occasionally also) a toy made by hand or machine.
ΚΠ
1839 Reading Mercury 9 Mar. Extent of the Toy-Manufacture... It appears that seventeen thousand sacks of sawdust are consumed annually in London for stuffing dolls alone.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. ix. iii. 410 Perhaps some readers have..seen the wooden-clock makings, salt-works, toy-manufactures, of those simple people in their slouch-hats.
2011 Times 26 July 47/5 Handler co-founded Mattel, a company that became the biggest name in toy manufacture and introduced two..famous names to the market, Barbie and Hot Wheels.
toy manufacturer n. a person who or company which makes or manufactures toys; a toymaker.Early examples may refer to a maker of small ornaments and trinkets (cf. senses 6a, 6c), rather than children's toys (the current and predominant sense).
ΚΠ
1787 York Guide 44 Lund John, jun. Toy-Manufacturer, Goodramgate.
1802 Walker's Hibernian Mag. June 381/2 The prince of Hesse recently issued an order, prohibiting toy manufacturers from colouring their wares with any paints in which lead or copper is used, in consequence of the very serious injury which children frequently receive from putting such articles in their mouths.
1958 Economist 29 Nov. 798/1 While the essential elements of the game have provided amusement and diversion for centuries, bingo was named and introduced as a modern parlour game in 1929 by a toy manufacturer.
2002 Independent 1 July 16/7 No sensation ever swept America quite like the Hula Hoop, whose genesis lay in a visit by an Australian toy manufacturer to Wham-O's Los Angeles factory in 1958.
toy-mutch n. Scottish Obsolete (historical in later use) a close-fitting cap or headdress worn by women and girls (esp. of lower social status), made of linen or wool, and having flaps coming down to the shoulders (cf. sense 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > close-fitting > with flaps
pinner1575
settee1688
toy1702
toy-mutch1751
1751 W. Forbes Dominie Deposed (ed. 10) ii. 9 The Toy Mutch maun then gae on, Nae mair bair hair'd.
1837 A. Leighton in Wilson's Hist. Tales Borders III. 326/1 There still sits Janet Smith, in her toy-mutch and check-apron.
1911 J. Stuart Reminiscences i. 35 Nannie wore always a white ‘toy-mutch’,..that is, a cap made of pure white and very clean linen, completely enclosing her head, and standing rather high behind, with a small frill in front, and tied tightly with broad white ribbon under her chin.
toy-pate n. Obsolete rare a person with a head full of odd fancies or frivolities (cf. toy-headed adj.).Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > crankiness or eccentricity > person
fantastical1589
fantastic1598
earwig brain1599
extravagant1627
fanatic1644
energumen1660
original1675
toy-pate1702
gig1777
quiz1780
quoz?1780
rum touch1800
crotcheteer1815
pistol1828
eccentric1832
case1833
originalist1835
cure1856
crotchet-monger1874
curiosity1874
crank1881
crackpot1883
faddist1883
schwärmer1884
hard case1892
finger1899
mad hatter1905
nut1908
numéro1924
screwball1933
wack1938
fruitcake1942
odd bod1942
oddball1943
ghoster1953
raver1959
kook1960
flake1968
woo-woo1972
zonky1972
wacko1977
headbanger1981
1702 W. Penn More Fruits of Solitude §60. 23 He [sc. the wise man] never deals but in Substantial Ware, and leaves the rest for the Toy Pates (or Shops) of the World.
toy railway n. (a) a model of a railway, with a train, station, etc., used as an entertainment or plaything; cf. model railway; (b) a small narrow-gauge railway, often originally constructed for industrial purposes, but subsequently usually carrying tourists or other passengers.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > of specific construction > narrow gauge
toy railway1852
toy line1865
Decauville1899
1852 N.-Y. Daily Times 27 Nov. 4/5 (advt.) The children petitioned for Railroads, and Tuttle, No. 345 Broadway, heard them, and has just imported a beautiful assortment of Toy Railways.
1873 C. D. Warner in Scribner's Monthly Jan. 370/2 The southern terrace overlooking the Seine was closed, or I might have amused myself with the toy-railway of the Prince Imperial that ran nearly the whole length of it.
1892 M. J. B. Baddeley N. Wales (ed. 4) 165 No orthodox tourist visits Wales without taking a turn..on the ‘Toy’ railway.
2009 Hindustan Times (Nexis) 18 Apr. The tiny township of Jorhat in those days boasted of a 2 feet gauge toy-railway from the town to Kokilamukh ghat.
2017 National (Scotl.) (Nexis) 14 Dec. Their children..remain enchanted by simple things like toy railways.
toy seller n. a person who or (now usually) a company which sells toys.Early examples may refer to a seller of small ornaments and trinkets (cf. senses 6a, 6c).
ΚΠ
1704 ‘G. Psalmanazar’ Descr. Formosa 3 Some set up for Merchants, Artificers, or Toy-sellers, others for School-masters..to teach the Natives Children.
1894 R. Lovett James Gilmour & his Boys 265 The toy seller..goes slowly along the street, ‘Bong—Bong—Bonging’ at his gong.
1918 in A. Moore Last Days Mast & Sail (1925) iv. 133 A thing like a floating coffin, the shape of the ships sold by toy sellers.
2018 USA Today (Nexis) 12 Mar. 1 b (heading) If Toys R Us disappears, will other toy sellers be able to fill the void?
toy service n. a church service to which members of the congregation bring toys to donate to sick or poor children.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > observance, ritual > kinds of rite > with toys > [noun]
toy service1885
1885 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 14 Feb. 7/2 Children's Toy Service. An interesting service..was held last Sunday afternoon.., in connection with the Sunday school.
1889 Standard 1 Feb.Toy Services’ which are becoming very popular in some of our churches.
2019 Loughborough Echo (Nexis) 11 Dec. Parishioners gave unwrapped toys at the special Toy Service which will be given to the Great Notts Toy Appeal.
toy size adj. (a) adj.(usually hyphenated) that is or appears to be the size of a toy, very small; = toy-sized adj.; (b) n. a size resembling that of a toy, a very small size.
ΚΠ
1849 D. G. Rossetti in Let. 18 Oct. (1965) I. 75 Fierce sentinels (toy-size without the stands) Who spit their oaths at you and grind their r's.
1872 Graphic 29 June 13/3 A cylinder..which may be introduced into the barrel of the ordinary rifle whenever it is desired to reduce its calibre to a toy size.
1878 Era Almanack Jan. 49 A fourth musician, who, having thumped a toy-size drum for several minutes.., effects a hasty exit.
2002 C. Copeland et al. Best Hikes with Children in Catskills (ed. 2) 44 The kids..will feel like giants as they watch the toy-size cars racing along the highway below.
2012 J. S. Bell et al. Vet. Med. Guide to Dog & Cat Breeds 145/1 The African hairless dog was taken to China where further breeding reduced the emerging breed to a toy size.
toy-sized adj. that is or appears to be the size of a toy, very small; cf. toy size adj. (a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > small of its kind
demi1418
young1550
minikin1566
dwarf-like1582
diminutive1602
minitive?1602
diminute1611
pocket1621
Lilliputian1726
duodecimo1780
toy1821
minified1841
junior1860
toy-sized1861
Lilliput1867
toyish1871
mini1963
1861 Once a Week 7 Sept. 287/1 Their summits..dotted in that upper distance with toy-sized châlets, and goat-herds, and mice-sized goats.
1895 ‘C. Holland’ My Japanese Wife (ed. 11) 27 Toy-sized cups of tea.
2019 Sunday Times (Nexis) 2 June. (Travel section) 13 Old ladies with toy-sized dogs strolling in the sun.
toy soldier n. a small model of a soldier; also figurative (depreciative) a soldier regarded as inferior or insignificant.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > doll > other figures > [noun] > toy soldier
toy soldier1828
soldier1878
1828 Mirror Lit., Amusem., & Instr. Suppl. No. 384/2 The groups of Toy Soldiers—and the head pieces of the Cobbler and his Wife—all excellent.
1850 C. Dickens Christmas Tree in Househ. Words 21 Dec. 291/2 The lazy-tongs that used to bear the toy soldiers.
1898 Royal Cornwall Gaz. 10 Mar. 6/7 The more sensible view that Government had adopted lately of looking upon the reserve forces as useful British men, and not merely ‘toy soldiers’.
1922 M. Arlen ‘Piracy’ iii. xi. 232 Poor Hugo..has gone clucking back for to be a toy soldier at Aldershot.
1980 Listener 19 June 796/1 A shopful of toy soldiers cast from the same lead mould.
2020 Agassiz-Harrison (Brit. Columbia) Observer (Nexis) 16 Jan. (Final ed.) (Opinion section) I had about 1,000 toy soldiers, lining them up in battle formations and fighting battles I never heard of, but which my ancestors had fought.
toy theatre n. a miniature theatre in which the characters are typically represented by printed pictures mounted on card or wood, or occasionally by models or puppets.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > toy theatre
toy theatre1845
1845 Times 4 Aug. Suppl. 12/4 (advt.) Furniture, Clocks, Cabinet Piano, Toy Theatre, Dressing Case.
1850 C. Dickens Christmas Tree in Househ. Words 21 Dec. 292/1 Out of this delight springs the toy theatre,..with its familiar proscenium, and..boxes.
1931 A. C. Ward Found. Eng. Prose iii. 98 Stevenson loved to play with toy-theatres.
1978 A. Miall & P. Miall Victorian Christmas Bk. 30 The toy theatre..was similar to the kind..still being made by Pollocks of London. The printed figures and scenery were cut out and applied to wooden backings.
2017 N.Y. Times 14 June (Final ed.) c6 He sets up a tiny, beautifully illuminated toy theater and enacts a deliciously comic version of Kafka's tale with miniature puppets.
toytime n. Winchester College time allocated outside of teaching periods for students to complete schoolwork, esp. to prepare for upcoming lessons; cf. sense 9.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > [noun] > study time
toytime1846
1846 C. Wordsworth Christian Boyhood at Public School I. viii. 130 Let the ‘Prefect in course’ in each Chamber preserve the same quiet and order before you retire to rest.., as he is accustomed to do during the longer period of ‘Toy Time’.
1881 W. H. David in C. E. Pascoe Everyday Life in our Public Schools 84 The clock marking 7, each junior retires to his ‘toys’ or bureau, for an hour and a half—during what is known as ‘toy-time’, when the work of the next morning and the week's composition have to be prepared.
1901 Public School Mag. 7 158/1 Thus we find that from seven o'clock to half-past eight is ‘toy-time’.
1933 Country Life 22 July 71/1 The scene is in ‘toytime’, or preparation in the evening, when ‘inferiors’ sit working at their partitioned desks or ‘toys’.
2020 C. Rostron in winchestercollege.org 26 Apr. (accessed 28 Apr. 2020) It's my last term here, too, and I am thinking longingly of Chamber teas; shirt-sleeve order; illicit Meads hours; garden football until the last minute before toytime.
toy trade n. the branch of commercial activity concerned with the manufacture and sale of toys; = toy industry n.Early examples may refer to small ornaments and trinkets (cf. senses 6a, 6c), rather than children's toys (the current and predominant sense).
ΚΠ
1712 Brit. Mercury 9–12 May (advt.) There is a Shop to be lett in Westminster-hall, fit either for a Bookseller, Milliner, Toy-Trade, or any other Trade.
1838 F. Coghlan Iron Road Bk. 80 In the reign of..Charles II., the toy trade was first cultivated in Birmingham.
1930 Commerce Rep. (U.S. Dept. Commerce) 24 Nov. 480/2 The last Christmas season did not bring the usual sales, and the German toy trade entered the present year with large stocks on hand.
2001 R. B. Browne & P. Browne Guide to U.S. Pop. Culture 848/1 The postwar American toy trade currently categorizes toys as follows.
toy turner n. Obsolete a person who fashions or turns (turn v. 4a) toys made of wood, metal, etc., on a lathe.
ΚΠ
1815 Wright's Leeds Intelligencer 27 Nov. Witness to the above, Nat. Doughty, Toy-turner, Jubbergate, York.
1893 A. N. Palmer Hist. Wrexham IV. 11 I find mentioned..one toy-turner.
1922 Model Engineer 10 Aug. 125/2 Fig. 1 shows a lathe bed and back rest frame often used by the toy turners before mentioned.
toy-woman n. Obsolete a woman who sells toys or who keeps a toy shop; cf. toy man n.Early examples may refer to a woman who sells small ornaments and trinkets (cf. senses 6a, 6c), rather than children's toys (the current and predominant sense).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of toys or trinkets
hobby-horse man1631
baby-seller1634
toy man1682
toy-woman1688
toy man1860
1688 J. Phillips tr. Du Vignau Turkish Secretary 19 This Toy-woman represented to Gulbeyaz that her Beauty being set off with the Stately Attire and Lustre which these Jewells gave her, she might chance to please the Grand Signior.
1827 W. Scott Jrnl. 2 Oct. (1941) 108 An old Lady, who proved a toy-woman in Edinburgh.
1868 R. N. Carey Nellie's Memories I. vii. 105 The red face of the toy-woman grew redder and redder, and her fat sides fairly shook.

Derivatives

toylike adj. resembling or characteristic of a toy, esp. with reference to small size (cf. sense 7a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > slenderness > [adjective] > and weak or fragile
feeble1340
tender1390
lean1578
thread-paper1747
toylike1818
spindly1827
spindling1858
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian i, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 18 The gay glancing of the equipage, its diminished and toy-like appearance at a distance.
1883 Manch. Examiner 26 Nov. 5/3 The Swiss lake steamers are..too toy-like to ensure their passengers against reasonably probable risks.
1960 ‘Miss Read’ Fresh from Country (1962) i. 11 The toy-like dimensions of Mrs Flynn's establishment both fascinated and depressed her.
2003 P. Magrs Aisles 38 I'm still tapping away on this silly, tiny, toylike keyboard.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

toyv.

Brit. /tɔɪ/, U.S. /tɔɪ/
Forms: see toy n.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: toy n.
Etymology: < toy n. Compare earlier play v. II.
1. to toy with ——.Cf. to play with —— 1 at play v. Phrasal verbs 2.
a. intransitive. To treat (a person, a person's heart, affections, etc.) with a lack of seriousness or respect, esp. for one's own amusement; to trifle or play with; to tease. Formerly also transitive in †to toy it with.Formerly also to toy at ——: †to mock (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > treat without seriousness [verb (transitive)]
to toy with ——?1499
trifle with1523
dandle1569
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > deride, ridicule, or mock [verb (transitive)]
teleeOE
laughOE
bismerc1000
heascenc1000
hethec1175
scornc1175
hokera1225
betell?c1225
scorn?c1225
forhushc1275
to make scorn at, toc1320
boba1382
bemow1388
lakea1400
bobby14..
triflea1450
japec1450
mock?c1450
mowc1485
to make (a) mock at?a1500
to make mocks at?a1500
scrip?a1513
illude1516
delude1526
deride1530
louta1547
to toy with ——1549–62
flout1551
skirp1568
knack1570
to fart against1574
frump1577
bourd1593
geck?a1600
scout1605
subsannate1606
railly1612
explode1618
subsannea1620
dor1655
monkeya1658
to make an ass of (someone)1680
ridicule1680
banter1682
to run one's rig upon1735
fun1811
to get the run upon1843
play1891
to poke mullock at1901
razz1918
flaunt1923
to get (or give) the razoo1926
to bust (a person's) chops1953
wolf1966
pimp1968
?1499 J. Skelton Bowge of Courte (de Worde) sig. Biv It was no tyme with him to Jape nor toye.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 758/2 I toye, or tryfell with one, I deale nat substancyally with hym, je me truffe.
1549–62 T. Sternhold & J. Hopkins Whole Bk. Psalms xxxv. 16 Yea abject slaves at me did toy with mocks and cheekes ful stout.
1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't ii. xxiii. 379 Thus Dr. H. toyes it with his Readers, hoping that the greater part of them will be arrant fools.
a1754 H. Fielding tr. Ovid Lover's Assistant (1759) 15 The Theatres..will be most fruitful to your Wishes. Here you will find one Object to love, and another to toy with.
1873 Gleason's Monthly Compan. Oct. 492/2 George Villiers..was dreaming his own dreams of winning the pure young heart of Marian Graeme, and, after toying with it idly, as he had toyed with women's hearts before, throw it from him as he would a withered flower.
1997 C. Coulter Maze (e-book ed.) i The sound came again... It seemed to be coming from the small foyer by the front door. Who could be toying with her this way?
2020 Sc. Daily Mail (Nexis) 12 May 22 More secret assignations followed, including a week on holiday, where he toyed with my affections, always dancing one step away, and then later that night kissing me under a dense black summer sky.
b. intransitive. To treat or engage with (a task, topic, idea, plan, situation, etc.) frivolously or indifferently; to give one's attention to briefly and without serious consideration.Formerly also †to toy of —— in the same sense, and also without construction, with the sense ‘to act ineffectively or in vain’ (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > be careless or heedless of [verb (transitive)] > perform without accuracy or thoroughness
to toy with ——1563
skima1586
slubber1592
slobber1630
huddle1648
to shuffle over, through1656
slobber1765
slattern1781
scuffle1785
slur1857
perfunctorize1866
smatter1881
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes sig. Sss.iii It is a shame that Christen men shuld be so lyght headed, to toy as ruffians do, of such manner speaches.
a1576 E. Dering XXVII Lect. Epist. Hebrues (1577) v. 4–6. sig. Cciij They must haue oyle, candels..wine and water,..trifled and toyed with all.
1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata 19 I fear I do toy in recording these vain Objections.
1744 J. Armstrong Art of preserving Health ii. 50 Where the stomach, indolently given, Toys with its duty, animate with wine Th' insipid stream.
1868 W. H. Dixon Spiritual Wives I. vii. 75 He toyed with astrology, and had fitful dreams of enjoying the elixir of life.
1939 Fortune Nov. 45/1 Government must stop toying with collectivist schemes and reactionary economic theories, and seriously approach the far more difficult task of building a libertarian system capable of integrating an industrial age.
2019 Financial Times (Nexis) 2 Mar. (Weekend Mag.) I toyed briefly with the idea of re-enacting my first journey there, by train across the Iron Curtain.
c. intransitive. To handle or fiddle with (an object), esp. absent-mindedly, restlessly, or nervously; (now frequently) to move (food) around on one's plate without eating it.In quot. 1576 probably: to move or shake (a part of the body) restlessly or nervously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touching with the hand > touch or feel with the hand [verb (transitive)] > touch or handle idly or restlessly
finger1546
to toy with ——1576
paddlea1616
nibble1676
twiddle1676
trifle1818
to pick at ——1841
to play off and on with1845
piggle1847
to twiddle with or at1847
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions ii. ii. f. 97v They also bewraye theyr owne vnconstancie and vnstayed mynds by much shaking of their heads, and continual playing and toying wyth theyr handes and feete.
1584 T. Lodge Alarum against Vsurers f. 18v Aurelius in his Court seeing certaine Philosophers vsing vnseemely iestures, wagging their heads, toying with theyr garments, expulsed them the court, as vnmeete to be preferred to honours.
1665 W. Winstanley Loyall Martyrol. 147 He that was so nimble and quick in all projects in this nature before, was now like a Sot or a Fool, playing and toying with the straw in the Sledge as he went to Execution.
1708 tr. M. Alemán Life Guzman d’Alfarache I. i. viii. 132 A most charming Nosegay..that Don Alonso had sent her that very Day, as she was toying with it, chanc'd to slip out of her Hand.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall I. 225 The gallant general took his station..at her side, and toyed with her ladyship's elegantly ornamented work-bag.
1948 W. Clewes Journey into Spring (1953) iii. 58 He sat for an interminable time on a wooden bench, while a girl with a synthetic Bowery accent, a penchant for chewing gum, and no other interest, toyed with his ration book and his identity card.
2006 Evening Standard (Nexis) 8 Sept. (ES Mag.) 34 ‘The agency told me all these things that I had to change about myself,’ she says, toying with the food on her plate.
2. intransitive. To play, amuse oneself; to act or move in a playful manner; to frolic. Also with adverb, as in to toy about, to toy around, etc. Often (esp. in later use) with prepositional complement: to amuse oneself with, on, or †in something.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > [verb (intransitive)]
playeOE
glewc900
gameOE
lakec1300
solace1340
bourdc1440
dallyc1440
sporta1450
to make sportc1475
disport1480
to have a good (bad, etc.) time (of it, formerly on it)1509
toy?1521
pastime1523
recreate1589
jest1597
feast1609
deliciate1633
divert1670
carpe diem1817
hobby-horse1819
popjoy1853
that'll be the day1916
to play around1929
loon1969
?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. b The fole in his bable, hath pleasure for to toye. The clerke in his boke, the marchaunt in richesse The knyght in his horse, harnes and hardynesse.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ix. sig. V8 But other some could not abide to toy, All pleasaunce was to them griefe and annoy.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 674 The Sensless Atoms, playing and toying up and down, without any care or thought.
1773 G. White Let. 9 Nov. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 98 Titlarks not only sing sweetly as they sit on trees, but also as they play and toy about on the wing.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. v. 257 The hare, unscared, Sported; and toyed familiar with his dog.
1904 Trans. Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Soc. 7 369 Two fine Falcons, one of them chased by a cloud of Terns, the other gyrating and toying in the air with some Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
2007 M. Smalley & A. Smalley More than Match v. 67 The next occasion you have some thinking time—toying around on your laptop during a long flight, sitting on a park bench, taking in a sunset—type in or write down some qualities in a potential mate that would be important to you.
3. intransitive. To engage in casual or light-hearted sexual activity or flirtatious behaviour (with a person); to dally, flirt. Cf. toy n. 1. Now rare and merging with sense 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > flirt, philander, or dally [verb (intransitive)] > sport or struggle amorously
tuga1225
toyc1530
c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. H.iii Yet is it pleasour to handle and to toy With Galatea Licoris or phyllys Neera, Malkyn or lusty Testilis And other damys.
a1627 T. Middleton No Wit (1657) v. 99 Not toy, nor bill and imitate House-Pigeons.
1762 T. Brooks Cabinet Choice Jewels ii. 142 Had Joseph been toying, and playing, and sporting with his mistress in a wanton manner, how soon might he have wrapt himself up in the guilt of his mistresses burning lusts.
1865 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. xxv. 193 It was as well that they were not caught toying together in so very public a place.
2007 Washington Post (Nexis) 27 Oct. c1 Dressed as a boy, she woos and toys with Orlando.
4. transitive. With away, out. To spend or waste (time) in frivolous or unimportant pursuits. Also reflexive: to bring oneself out of a specified condition by means of frivolous behaviour. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > cause to be idle or inactive [verb (transitive)] > occupy oneself triflingly with > waste (time) in trifling activity
trifle outa1450
trifle1532
loiter1549
picklea1568
toy1575
trifle1587
rust1604
to idle (time) away1652
fool1657
to dally away1685
dangle1727
to piddle away1743
peddle1866
potter1883
putter1911
gold-brick1918
1575 Abp. M. Parker Let. 18 Feb. in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 474 I toy out my time, partly with copying of books.
1685 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II I. 134 So fools and fleers on, till he hath toyed and laughed himself out of all sense of Religion.
1749 S. Johnson Irene i. ii. 10 He toys his Hours away.
1874 C. M. Davies Heteredox London II. 204 Junius charged George, Prince of Wales, with quitting the arms of his wife for the endearments of a wanton, with toying away the night in debauchery, and with mocking the sorrows of the people with an ostentatious prodigality.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.a1400v.?1499
随便看

 

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。

 

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间:2025/3/17 1:42:53