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Tom
Definitions
- 1 A diminutive of the male given name Thomas, also used as a formal male given name.
"Poor Tom's a-cold."
- 2 A large, deep-toned bell, or a particularly notable example of one.
"They had a thick rim, and when struck with pieces of wood, gave out a tone deeper than that of some of the Great Toms renowned in belldom."
- 3 A nickname for a common man.
- 1 The male of the domesticated cat, especially if not neutered.
- 2 A tomato (the fruit). British
"Toms 90p a pound"
- 3 jewellery Cockney, slang, uncountable
- 4 Ellipsis of Uncle Tom. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncommon
"I thought it was nice for them [civil rights volunteers] to come in here. But they wasn’t welcome among white people. The black people welcomed them with open arms, but they wasn’t welcomed by the white people. And the churches began to burn: Everetts Chapel and Union Hill. I’ll be honest and tell you the truth, I was a little afraid sometimes, depending on where the meeting was. It looked like the group was pushing forward and I didn’t want to be a “Tom.”"
- 5 Synonym of menstruation. euphemistic, uncountable
"Sorry, maybe next week. Uncle Tom is visiting."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 Acronym of time of the month. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, euphemistic
- 7 Initialism of theory of mind. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
"Thus there are stages of gaze following, followed by primary ToM, then secondary ToM, then perspective taking, with the speed of transitions influenced by experience[…]"
- 8 male turkey wordnet
- 9 The male of the turkey.
- 10 A United States two-dollar bill. US, rare
"Toms: two-dollar bills bearing the portrait of President Thomas Jefferson"
- 11 Acronym of Translocon on Outer Membrane. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 12 male cat wordnet
- 13 The male of the orangutan.
- 14 (ethnic slur) offensive and derogatory name for a Black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to Whites wordnet
- 15 The male of certain other animals.
- 16 A female prostitute. UK, dated, slang
- 17 A lesbian. US, slang
- 18 Clipping of tom-tom. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 19 The jack of trumps in the card game gleek. obsolete
- 20 A close-stool. UK, obsolete, regional
- 1 To act in an obsequiously servile manner toward white authority. derogatory, intransitive
- 2 To dig out a hole below the hatch cover of a bulker and fill it with cargo or weights to aid stability.
Etymology
From generic use of the proper name Tom.
Shortened from tomato
Rhyming slang from tomfoolery.
From Uncle Tom.
From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas. The dollar-bill sense is from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on it.
From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas. The dollar-bill sense is from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on it.
Variant of TOM (“time of the month”) influenced by the name.
Possibly onomatopoeia, conflated with the given name, given the practice of giving objects such as Big Ben human names. Alternatively, it may derive from an inscription on the old bell used as metal to make the Great Tom of Oxford in 1680: In Thomæ laude resono bim bom sine fraude.
See also for "tom"
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