Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tabby \Tab"by\, n.; pl. {Tabbies}. [F. tabis (cf. It. tab[`i],
   Sp. & Pg. tab['i], LL. attabi), fr. Ar. 'att[=a]b[=i],
   properly the name of a quarter of Bagdad where it was made,
   the quarter being named from the prince Attab, great grandson
   of Omeyya. Cf. {Tobine}.]
   1. A kind of waved silk, usually called {watered silk},
      manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The
      watering is given to it by calendering.

   2. A mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal
      proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry,
      this becomes as hard as rock. --Weale.

   3. A brindled cat; hence, popularly, any cat.

   4. An old maid or gossip. [Colloq.] --Byron.