ˈtoy-shop
1. A shop for the sale of trinkets, knick-knacks, or small ornamental articles; a fancy shop. arch.
| 1693 W. Freke Sel. Ess. xxxii. 201 Are not these..fitter for a Toy-shop, than a Wise Man's Head? 1711 Addison Spect. No. 10 ¶6 If they [women] make an Excursion to a Mercer's or a Toy-shop. 1712 Ibid. No. 499 ¶5 Ribbons, brocades, embroidery,..sufficient to have furnished a whole street of toy-shops. 1791 Boswell Johnson 28 Apr. an. 1778, We stopped again at Wirgman's, the well-known toy-shop,..he sent for me to..help him to choose a pair of silver buckles. 1852 [see 3]. |
2. A shop for the sale of toys or playthings.
| 1796 Boston Directory 232 Butler, Mary, crockery and toy shop. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. vi, These booths have degenerated into mere toy-shops, where the little loiterers..are..enchanted by the rich display of hobby-horses, babies, and Dutch toys. 1858 Lytton What will he do i. xvi, Lionel could not find in the toyshops of the village a doll good enough. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xl. (ed. 3) 347 A toy shop, crowded with all sorts of interesting playthings. |
3. attrib.
| 1813 Theatrical Inquisitor II. 124 Her arms..drop inanimate like the..limbs of a toy-shop harlequin. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxii, Such..as was never before seen or heard of out of a toy-shop window. 1852 Thackeray Esmond iii. vi, Esmond found the antechamber crowded with milliners and toyshop women..mercers' men with hangings, and velvets, and brocades. |