toy (toi)

[ D. tuig, tools, utensils, apparatus, ornaments, stuff, trash (D. speel - tuig, playthings, toys), = LG. tüg = OHG. gi-zing, MHG. ziuc, G. zeug, stuff, gear (cf. G. spielzeug, toys), = Icel. tyg i, = Dan. töj , gear, Sw. tyg, gear, stuff, trash, stuff, things, gear ( lege - töj, plaything, toy). Perhaps connected with tow1, tug.] 1. A knickknack; an ornament; a gewgaw; a trinket; a bauble. IMG:content-0677.png:[blocks in formation] One cannot but be amazed to see such a profusion of wealth laid out in coaches, trappings, tables, cabinets, and the like precious toys , in which there are few princes in Europe who equal them. Add is on, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn, I. 504). 2. Something intended rather for amusement than for serious use; a means of diversion; hence, especially, an object contrived or used occasionally for the amusement of children or others; a plaything; also, something diminutive, like a plaything. 'Tis a pretty toy to be a poet. Marlowe, Tamburlaine, I., ii. 2. O virtue, virtue! what art thou become, That man should leave thee for that toy , a woman! Dryden , Spanish Friar, iv. 2. All the world I saw or knew Seemed a complex Chinese toy , Fashioned for a barefoot boy! Whittier , Barefoot Boy. Perched on the top of a hill was a conspicuous toy of a church. W. Black, House-boat, ii. 3. A trifle; a thing or matter of no importance or value. A man whose wisdom is in weighty affairs admired would take it in some disdain to have his counsel solemnly asked about a toy . Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 15. A toy , a thing of no regard. Shak ., 1 Hen. VI., iv. 1. 145. 4. Play; amorous sport; care . So said he, and forbore not glance or toy Of amorous intent. Milton , P. L., ix. 1034, Toxodontidæ (tok-so-don'ti-dē), n . pl . [NL., Toxodon (t-) + -idæ .] A restricted family of toxodonts, represented by the genus Toxodon . 5t. A curious conceit or fable; a story; a tale. The cranial characters are in some respects those of the existing swine. The teeth are thirty-eight in number, all growing from persistent pulps, with large incisors, small lower canines, no upper canines, and strongly curved molars (whence the name). The femur has no third trochanter, and the fibula articulates with the calcaneum; the tarsal bones resemble those of proboscideans. Here by the way I will tell you a merry toy. Latimer , Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1550. I never may believe These antique fables, nor these fairy toys . Shak ., M. N. D., v. 1. 3. 6t. A fantastic notion; a whim; a caprice. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary toy Cast not thyne eyes to ne yet fro, As thou werte full of toyes. 6409