Word.ws English Dictionary

cuddy

/ˈkʌdi/

cuddy noun: a cabin, for the use of the captain, in the after part of a sailing ship under the poop deck.

Noun (1)

cuddy (plural cuddies)

  1. A cabin, for the use of the captain, in the after part of a sailing ship under the poop deck.
    • Being summoned to the cuddy to breakfast, I had not been there five minutes when I turned deadly sick, was obliged to retire to my cot […] .1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 77
    • It was a strong measure I own, walking into your cuddy, and calling for drink as if I was the Captain […]1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 44, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
  2. A small cupboard or closet.
  3. (Durham, Scotland, historical, Northumberland) A donkey, especially one driven by a huckster or greengrocer.
    • folk said the cuddy had bided so long with Pooty that whenever it opened its mouth to give a bit bray it started to stutter.1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 31
  4. (UK) A pony that works in a mine.
  5. (dated) A blockhead; a lout.
    • It cost more tricks and trouble, by half,
      Than it takes to exhibit a six-legged calf
      To a boothful of country cuddies.1840-1841, Thomas Hood, "Miss Kilmansegg and Her Precious Leg"
  6. A lever mounted on a tripod for lifting stones, leveling up railroad ties, etc.

Noun (2)

cuddy (plural cuddies)

  1. A coalfish (Pollachius virens).

Noun (3)

cuddy (plural cuddies)

  1. (slang, African-American Vernacular) A close friend or buddy.
    • I can't lie, I like to get high and figure-8 when I drive / Blow doja rope in the sky for all my cuddies that died1996 April 23, “Get Right”, in Untouchable, performed by Mac Mall ft. LeVitti
    • I could never imagine myself raising my hand to hit my Jasmine. She's my cuddy. We practically grew up together.2012, Zonie Felder, January Jackson & Friends: The Premiere, Bloomington, I.N.: iUniverse, Inc., →ISBN, page 71

Proper noun capitalized: Cuddy

Cuddy (plural Cuddys)

  1. A surname.

Forms of cuddy

Noun
pluralcuddies
alternative formcuddie
alternative formcudden
alternative formcuth
Proper noun
pluralCuddys

Origin of cuddy

Uncertain. Perhaps a contraction from Dutch kajuit (“cabin”).

From Scots cuddie; compare Gaelic cudaig, cudainn, or English cuttlefish, or cod.

From buddy, with the initial "B" replaced with "C" in Crip slang.

Words formed from cuddy

Words that rhyme with cuddy

Questions about cuddy

What does cuddy mean?
Cuddy means a cabin, for the use of the captain, in the after part of a sailing ship under the poop deck.
What part of speech is cuddy?
Cuddy can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cuddy?
Cuddy is pronounced /ˈkʌdi/.
What is the plural of cuddy?
The plural of cuddy is cuddies.

Words near cuddy in the dictionary

  1. cuddly toys
  2. cuddly-wuddly
  3. cuddoo
  4. cuddoos
  5. Cudds
  6. cuddy
  7. Cuddy's beads
  8. cuddy-hole
  9. cuddy-holes
  10. cuddyhole
  11. cuddyholes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cuddy (page history and authors); Cuddy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cuddy.wav.

Cite this entry: “cuddy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cuddy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.