tabby 1
/tab"ee/ , n. , pl. tabbies , adj., v., tabbied, tabbying .
n.
1. a cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2. a domestic cat, esp. a female one.
3. a spinster.
4. a spiteful female gossip or tattler.
5. See plain weave .
6. a watered silk fabric, or any other watered material, as moreen.
adj.
7. striped or brindled.
8. made of or resembling tabby.
v.t.
9. to give a wavy or watered appearance to, as silk.
[ 1630-40; back formation from F tabis (taken as pl.), MF ( a ) tabis silk cloth attabi attabi, deriv. of ( al- )' Attabiyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, lit., the quarter of (Prince) 'Attab ]
tabby 2
/tab"ee/ , n.
(in the southeastern U.S.) a building material composed of ground oyster shells, lime, and sand, mixed with salt water.
[ 1765-75, Amer.; said to be of West African orig. ]