Inherited from Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“plaything, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-West Germanic *tiugī̆, *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“stuff, matter, device, gear, lever”, literally “that which is drawn or pulled”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with Dutch tuig (“thing”), German Zeug (“stuff”), Danish tøj (“stuff”), Icelandic tygi, Norwegian tøy (“equipment, riggings, stuff”), Swedish tyg (“cloth, textile, fabric”). Related to tug, tow, taw, tew.
Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.
A grown man like him does not play with a child’s toy.
2
A thing of little importance or value; a trifle.
tis a pretie toy to be a Poet.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
he had deflowered the abbess, and as many besides of the nuns as he could, and leaves him withal rings, jewels, girdles, and such toys to give them still, when they came to visit him.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
3
A simple, light piece of music, written especially for the virginal.
4
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of toy dog.
Since standards are large dogs, they grow much more rapidly than miniatures and toys, which means that they require more supplements.1968, Jeff Griffen, The Poodle Book, page 36:
Then seemed him his Lady by him lay, / And to him playnd, how that false winged boy, / Her chast hart had subdewd, to learne Dame pleasures toy.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
6
Obsolete A vague fancy, a ridiculous idea or notion; a whim.
Though they do talk with you, and seem to be otherwise employed, and to your thinking very intent and busy, still that toy runs in their mind, that fear, that suspicion, that abuse, that jealousy […].1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], chapter 3, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 2:
To fly about playing their wanton toys.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 50:
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What if a toy take 'em i'th' heels now, and they all run away.c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Nor light and idle toys my lines may vainly swell.1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC:
More strange than true: I never may believe these antique fables, nor these fairy toys.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
8
Scotland, Archaic A headdress of linen or wool that hangs down over the shoulders, worn by elderly women of the lower classes.
Having, moreover, put on her clean toy, rokelay, and scarlet plaid.1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
9
Abbreviation, Ellipsis, Euphemistic Ellipsis of sex toy.
It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, page 40:
I was a toy until I met Sear, who moved here from Toronto and showed me the book Subway Art.2011, Adam Melnyk, Visual Orgasm: The Early Years of Canadian Graffiti, page 45:
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DAVE COLUMBO (played by Gabriel Bisset-Smith): So, Rave, you’re a graffiti artist. RAVE: Writer. Graffiti writer. There’s a difference. DAVE COLUMBO: What do you make of “I Came By”(the practice of robbing rich people’s houses and tagging them with the words “I came by”)? RAVE: I think whoever done it is a fucking toy. I heard it’s not the same crew anymore.2022 August 31, Babak Anvari, Namsi Khan, 15:22 from the start, in Babak Anvari, director, I Came By (film), spoken by Rave (Sean Rey):
RONNIE: Now, that is a SIG Sauer P226. JIMMY VICKERS (played by Danny Dyer): Yeah, takes 19 in the clip. It’s effective up to 50 metres. RONNIE: Man knows his toys.2013 December 23, Stephen Reynolds, 48:02 from the start, in Stephen Reynolds, director, Vendetta (film), spoken by Ronnie (Nick Nevern):
Me and the other one went by ourselves; he was very tricky (clever) at getting a poge or a toy, but he would not touch toys because we was afraid of being turned over (searched).1879 October, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves' Language”, in Macmillan's Magazine, volume 40, number 240, page 505, column 2:
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And as it commonly took three men to secure a single watch in the open street—one to 'front,' one to snatch, and a third to take from the snatcher—the gains of the toy-getting trade were poor, except to the fence.1896, Arthur Morrison, A Child of the Jago, London: Methuen & Co., page 239:
15
Dated, Slang A small jar (about an inch across) used to hold prepared opium.
Sonia, with a woman's dainty deftness in small matters, dug out the chocolate-colored opium from a little white jar, a "toey," cooking it over a steady flame of peanut-oil.1915, George Bronson Howard, God's Man, Indianapolis, I.N.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 127:
Chang was always on call, to go to Americans with "toys" of hop, ready to "cook," if desired by his patrons.1928, May Churchill Sharpe [i.e., Chicago May], Chicago May: Her Story, New York, N.Y.: The Macaulay Company, pages 159–160:
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I called up Mike and pleaded with him to bring me the joint (the layout) and put me out of my misery. Instead he came up with some medicine, a patent product called Wampoole's Mixture that was supposed to help you taper off the stuff. What you did was, you took a toy (a tin) of hop and shook it up with this medicine in a bottle and kept taking it every day. As the bottle got empty you kept filling it up again with more of the medicine, so the amount of hop kept going down and finally you were taking practically straight medicine.1946, Mezz Mezzrow, Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, pages 253–254:
16
Dated, Slang A small ball of opium (about the size of a pea).
I smoked a toy a day, same as on the ship. You could buy a small toy for two dollars.1989, David Courtwright, Herman Joseph, Don Des Jarlais, quoting Lao Pai-Hsing (translated interview), Addicts Who Survived: An Oral History of Narcotic Use in America, 1923-1965, Knoxville, T.N.: The University of Tennessee Press, →ISBN, page 84:
The act at the Alamo began with Jackson sprawled on a chair and pretending to be smoking opium. He used a broom handle with a tin cup at the end as if he were cooking opium. There wasn't a patron in the joint who had to ask what they were pretending to do. When Jackson took small balls of wax and said he was making "toys," everybody laughed.1991, Jimmy Breslin, Damon Runyon, New York, N.Y.: Ticknor & Fields, →ISBN, pages 176–177:
Inherited from Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“plaything, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-West Germanic *tiugī̆, *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“stuff, matter, device, gear, lever”, literally “that which is drawn or pulled”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with Dutch tuig (“thing”), German Zeug (“stuff”), Danish tøj (“stuff”), Icelandic tygi, Norwegian tøy (“equipment, riggings, stuff”), Swedish tyg (“cloth, textile, fabric”). Related to tug, tow, taw, tew.
1
To play (with) in an idle or desultory way.
to toy with a piece of food on one’s plate
Figo is toying with the English defence.
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His [Hercules's] Lyons skin chaungd to a pall of gold, / In which forgetting warres, he onely ioyed / In combats of ſweet loue, and with his miſtreſſe toyed.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 24, page 246:
2
To ponder or consider.
I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.
He could see her hand go to her slit, and soon she was toying herself along, breathing heavily.2013, Jonathan Everest, Lady Loverly's Chattel:
toy
adj
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“plaything, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-West Germanic *tiugī̆, *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“stuff, matter, device, gear, lever”, literally “that which is drawn or pulled”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with Dutch tuig (“thing”), German Zeug (“stuff”), Danish tøj (“stuff”), Icelandic tygi, Norwegian tøy (“equipment, riggings, stuff”), Swedish tyg (“cloth, textile, fabric”). Related to tug, tow, taw, tew.
1
Impractical or unsuitable for real-world use, due to being unrealistically small or simple.
Our evaluation scenarios are purposefully simplistic […] This implies that the scenarios are quite toy and not representative of real deployments.2024 December 5, Alexander Meinke et al., Frontier Models are Capable of In-context Scheming, page 15: