Toy Meaning

/tɔɪ/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounSomething to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.

nounA thing of little importance or value; a trifle.

It took three hours to put the broken toy together.
Tom appealed to his mother to buy a new toy for him.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The child played happily with a small plastic ____ that made noises.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young child was very happy to receive a new ____ car for his birthday from his aunt and uncle today.

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.

"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:
"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:
"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:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The child played happily with a small plastic ____ that made noises.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young child was very happy to receive a new ____ car for his birthday from his aunt and uncle today.

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