toy

/taɪ/UK/tɔɪ/

toy noun: something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child. Also the ellipsis of toy dog.

Image: Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

toy (plural toys)

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.
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...
- 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
A simple, light piece of music, written especially for the virginal.
(obsolete) Love play, amorous dalliance; fondling.
- 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
(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...
- 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
(obsolete) An old story; a silly tale.
- 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...
(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...
Synonyms:

toy mutch
(derogatory, slang) An inferior graffiti artist.
- 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
(Multicultural-London-English, slang) A gun.
- 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)
Synonyms:

bit
(dated, euphemistic, slang) The penis.

Synonyms:

anaconda, baloney pony, bald-headed hermit, banana, bird, birdie, bobby, boonga, cack, choad
(dated, euphemistic, slang) The vagina.

Synonyms:

axe wound, bearded clam, beaver, berk, bonne bouche, box, bun, bush, cavern, clunge
(dated, slang) A watch.
- a toy and tackle (a watch and chain)
- 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
(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
(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 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...1991, Jimmy Breslin, Damon Runyon, New York, N.Y.: Ticknor & Fields, →ISBN, pages 176–177

Verb

toy (third-person singular simple present toys, present participle toying, simple past and past participle toyed)

(intransitive) 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.
(intransitive) To ponder or consider.
- I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.
(slang, transitive) To stimulate with a sex toy.
- 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

Adjective

toy (comparative more toy, superlative most toy)

(attributive) 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

Proper noun capitalized: Toy

Toy

A surname.

Also used as

toy is also the ellipsis of toy dog.

toy is also the ellipsis of sex toy.

toy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

toy in Hindi

something to play with: खिलौना khilaunā

toy in Tamil

something to play with: பொம்மை pommai
to play with: விளையாடு viḷaiyāṭu

toy in Marathi

something to play with: खेळणे kheḷṇe

toy in Urdu

something to play with: کِھلَونا khilaunā

More languagesFewer languages

toy in Bengali: খেলনা khelna
toy in Telugu: ఆటబొమ్మ āṭabomma
toy in Malayalam: കളിപ്പാട്ടം kaḷippāṭṭaṁ
toy in Punjabi: ਖਿਡੌਣਾ khiḍauṇā, کِھڈَوݨا khiḍauṇā
toy in Gujarati: રમકડું ramakḍũ
toy in Sanskrit: क्रीडनक krīḍanaka
toy in Assamese: খেলাবস্তু khelabostu, খেলনা khelona
toy in Pashto: بازيچه bāziča, لوبڅی lobcay
toy in Tagalog: laruan
toy in Arabic: لُعْبَة luʕba, دُمْيَة dumya
toy in Malay: mainan
toy in Indonesian: mainan, mempermainkan
toy in Thai: ของเล่น kɔ̌ɔng-lên
toy in Vietnamese: đồ chơi
toy in Myanmar: ကစားစရာ ka.ca:ca.ra

Examples of toy in a sentence

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...
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...
RAVE: I think whoever done it is a fucking toy.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):
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.1946, Mezz Mezzrow, Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, pages 253–254:

All 40 example sentences with toy

Synonyms of toy

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of toy

Forms of toy

Noun
plural	toys
Verb
third-person singular present	toys
present participle	toying
past participle	toyed
past	toyed
Adjective
comparative	more toy
superlative	most toy

Past tense of toy: toyed

Plural of toy: toys

Origin of toy

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.

Words formed from toy

Phrases with toy

21 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with toy

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about toy

What does toy mean?: Toy means something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.
What is toy in Hindi?: Toy in Hindi is खिलौना (khilaunā). See Toy meaning in Hindi.
How do you use toy in a sentence?: What if a toy take 'em i'th' heels now, and they all run away.
What part of speech is toy?: Toy can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce toy?: Toy is pronounced /tɔɪ/ (UK).
What is the plural of toy?: The plural of toy is toys.

Words near toy in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: toy (page history and authors); Toy (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-toy.ogg.

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