Definition of: tabby

(tab′ē) noun plural ·bies
1. Any of several plain-woven fabrics, as a striped or watered taffeta, or a moreen.
2. A garment made of a watered fabric.
3. A brindled or striped cat; popularly, any domestic cat, especially a female.
4. A gossiping old maid.
5. A building material of equal parts of lime and shells, and gravel, mixed with water.
—adjective
1. Watered; mottled, as a fabric; also, brindled, as a cat.
2. Made of tabby.
3. Woven in the same way as fabric that is to be watered.
—v.t. ·bied, ·by·ing To give a wavy or watered appearance to (silk, etc.) by pressure between hot rollers; water; calender. [<F tabis, atabis <Arabic 'attābi <'Attabi, name of a quarter of Baghdad where it was manufactured]