Toy TOY, n. 1. A plaything for children; a bauble. 2. A trifle;
a thing for amusement, but of no real value. 3. An article of
trade of little value. They exchange gold and pearl for toys.
4. Matter of no importance. Nor light and idle toys my lines
may vainly swell. 5. Folly; trifling practice; silly opinion.
6. Amorous dalliance; play; sport. 7. An old story; a silly tale.
8. Slight representation; as the toy of novelty. 9. Wild fancy; odd
conceit. TOY, v.i. To dally amorously; to trifle; to play. TOY, v.t. To treat foolishly. [Not used.]
toy
n 1: an artifact designed to be played with [syn: plaything,
toy]
2: a nonfunctional replica of something else (frequently used as
a modifier); "a toy stove"
3: a device regarded as providing amusement; "private airplanes
are a rich man's toy"
4: a copy that reproduces a person or thing in greatly reduced
size [syn: miniature, toy]
5: any of several breeds of very small dogs kept purely as pets
[syn: toy dog, toy]
v 1: behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a
young girl's affection" [syn: dally, toy, play,
flirt]
2: manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination; "She
played nervously with her wedding ring"; "Don't fiddle with
the screws"; "He played with the idea of running for the
Senate" [syn: toy, fiddle, diddle, play]
3: engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take
it seriously; "They played games on their opponents"; "play
the stock market"; "play with her feelings"; "toy with an
idea" [syn: play, toy]
toy I. nounEtymology: Middle English toyeDate: 15th century
1.obsoletea. flirtatious or seductive behavior b.pastime;
also a sportive or amusing act ;antic2.a. something (as a preoccupation) that is paltry or
trifling b. a literary or musical trifle or diversion c.trinket, bauble3. something for a child to play with 4. something diminutive;
especially a diminutive animal (as of a small breed or variety)
5. something that can be toyed with 6.Scottish a
headdress of linen or woolen hanging down over the shoulders and formerly
worn by old women of the lower classes • toylikeadjectiveII. intransitive verbDate: circa 1529 1.
to act or deal with something lightly or without vigor or purpose
<toyed with the idea> 2. to engage in flirtation
3. to amuse oneself as if with a toy ;play <they're
just toying with him> Synonyms:seetrifle
• toyernounIII. adjectiveDate: 1801 1. of diminutive size
compared to a standard form or breed <a toy dog> 2.
designed or made for use as a toy <a toy stove>
toy n. & v. --n. 1 a a plaything, esp. for a child. b (often attrib.) a model or miniature replica of a thing, esp. as a plaything (toy gun). 2 a a thing, esp. a gadget or instrument,
regarded as providing amusement or pleasure. b a task or undertaking regarded in an unserious way. 3 (usu. attrib.) a diminutive breed or variety of dog etc. --v.intr. (usu. foll. by with) 1
trifle, amuse oneself, esp. with a person's affections; flirt (toyed with the idea of going to Africa). 2 a move a material object idly (toyed with her necklace). b nibble at food etc.
unenthusiastically (toyed with a peach). Phrases and idioms: toy-box a usu. wooden box for keeping toys in. toy boy colloq. a woman's much younger male lover. toy soldier 1 a
miniature figure of a soldier. 2 sl. a soldier in a peacetime army. Etymology: 16th c.: earlier = dallying, fun, jest, whim, trifle: orig. unkn.
toy
(toys, toying, toyed)Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1. A toy is an object that children play with, for example a doll or a model car.
He was really too old for children's toys....a toy telephone.N-COUNTsee alsosoft toy
2. You can refer to objects that adults use for fun rather than for a serious purpose as
toys.
Computers have become household toys.N-COUNT: oft supp N
toy
tɔɪ n. & v. --n. 1 a a plaything, esp. for a child. b
(often attrib.) a model or miniature replica of a thing, esp. as a
plaything (toy gun). 2 a a thing, esp. a gadget or instrument, regarded
as providing amusement or pleasure. b a task or undertaking regarded in
an unserious way. 3 (usu. attrib.) a diminutive breed or variety of dog
etc. --v.intr. (usu. foll. by with) 1 trifle, amuse oneself, esp. with a
person's affections; flirt (toyed with the idea of going to Africa). 2 a
move a material object idly (toyed with her necklace). b nibble at food
etc. unenthusiastically (toyed with a peach). øtoy-box a usu. wooden box
for keeping toys in. toy boy colloq. a woman's much younger male lover. toy
soldier 1 a miniature figure of a soldier. 2 sl. a soldier in a peacetime
army. [16th c.: earlier = dallying, fun, jest, whim, trifle: orig. unkn.]
Toy \Toy\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. toyed; p. pr. & vb. n.
toying.]
To dally amorously; to trifle; to play.
To toy, to wanton, dally, smile and jest. --Shak.
Toy \Toy\ (toi), n. [D. tuid tools, implements, stuff, trash,
speeltuig playthings, toys; akin to G. zeug stuff, materials,
MNG. ziuc, Icel. tygi gear; all ultimately from the root of
E. tug, v. t.; cf. G. zeugen to beget, MHG. ziugen to beget,
make ready, procure. See Tug, v. t.]
1. A plaything for children; a bawble. --Cowper.
2. A thing for amusement, but of no real value; an article of
trade of little value; a trifle.
They exchange for knives, glasses, and such toys,
great abundance of gold and pearl. --Abr. Abbot.
3. A wild fancy; an odd conceit; idle sport; folly; trifling
opinion.
To fly about playing their wanton toys. --Spenser.
What if a toy take'em in the heels now, and they all
run away. --Beau. &Fl.
Nor light and idle toys my lines may vainly swell.
--Drayton.
4. Amorous dalliance; play; sport; pastime. --Milton.
To dally thus with death is no fit toy. --Spenser.
5. An old story; a silly tale. --Shak.
6. [Probably the same word.] A headdress of linen or woolen,
that hangs down over the shoulders, worn by old women of
the lower classes; -- called also toy mutch. [Scot.]
``Having, moreover, put on her clean toy, rokelay, and
scarlet plaid.'' --Sir W. Scott.
toy n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers. 1. `nice toy':
One that supports the speaker's hacking style adequately. 2. `just a
toy': A machine that yields insufficient computrons for the speaker's
preferred uses. This is not condemnatory, as is bitty box; toys can at
least be fun. It is also strongly conditioned by one's expectations;
Cray XMP users sometimes consider the Cray-1 a `toy', and certainly all
RISC boxes and mainframes are toys by their standards. See also Get a
real computer!}.
toy
tɔɪ n.
1 plaything: Whenever he visited, Uncle Jed brought toys for the children.
2 trifle, trinket, bauble, gewgaw, gimcrack, knick-knack, bagatelle, kickshaw, bit of
frippery: After marrying her, he treated her as a rich man's toy. --v.
3 Usually, toy with. trifle (with), dally (with), play (with), sport (with), fool (with),
fiddle (with), tinker (with): He kept toying with his watch chain.
4 Usually, toy with. flirt (with), dally (with), dilly-dally (with), play (with), deal
with carelessly, amuse oneself with: The cad was only toying with her affections. --adj.
5 miniature, tiny, diminutive, small, dwarf: She breeds toy poodles.
6 imitation, fake, phoney or US also phony, simulated, artificial: This is only a toy
watch and doesn't work.
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