Tom

Tom, n.¹
  (tɒm)
  Forms: 4–6 tomme, (5 thomme, 6 thom), 6– Tom; also, in general uses, with lower-case initial.
  1. A familiar shortening of the Christian name Thomas; often a generic name for any male representative of the common people; esp. in Tom and Tib (cf. Jack and Jill); Tom, Dick, and (or or) Harry, any men taken at random from the common run; Blind Tom, blind-man's-buff.

1377– [see 7 c]. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 924 Dicke the Shepheard blowes his naile; And Tom beares Logges into the hall. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 9, I am sworn brother to a leash of Drawers, and can call them by their names, as Tom, Dicke, and Francis. 1606 Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 72 When Tom and Tib, were in their true delight, And he lou'd her, and she held him full deere. 1734 Vocal Miscellany (ed. 2) I. 332 Farewell, Tom, Dick, and Harry, Farewell, Moll, Nell, and Sue. 1749 Fielding (title) Tom Jones. 1762 J. Otis Vindication House Representatives Massachusetts-Bay 21 That I should die very soon after my head should be cut off..whether chopped off to gratify a tyrant by the christian name of Tom, Dick or Harry is evident. 1790 Dibdin Song, Poor Tom i, Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling. 1815 Farmer's Almanack (Boston, Mass.) in Kittredge Old Farmer (1904) 88 So he hired Tom, Dick and Harry, and at it they all went. 1818 in J. Adams' Wks. (1856) X. 351 Tom, Dick, and Harry were not to censure them and their Council. 1857 Hughes (title) Tom Brown's School-days. 1864 Trollope Can you forgive Her? I. xxxii. 254 Didn't he want to squander every shilling of the property,..property which I could give to Tom, Dick, or Harry tomorrow, if I liked? 1865 Alex. Smith Summer in Skye I. 46 Thereafter Tom, Jack and Harry; for every cab, carriage and omnibus..is now allowed to fall in. 1891 Tom, Dick, and Harry [see Dick n.1 1]. 1906 I. Zangwill Let. 29 Oct. in K. Gregory First Cuckoo (1978) 64 And have these wise and witty ladies less right than Tom, Dick or 'Arry to a direct influence on the government of their country? 1909 Healey Sp. in Ho. of Comm. 3 Sept., He never could understand this system of playing Blind Tom with the House of Commons—especially in a taxing statute. 1974 New Statesman 22 Nov. 740/3 There is no legislation for giving them a licence, so that any Tom, Dick or Harry can work as a guide and give..wrong information.

  † b. = Tom o' Bedlam: see 7 c. Obs.

1561 J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. 3 An Abraham man is he that..fayneth hym selfe mad..and nameth himselfe poore Tom. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 51 Who giues any thing to poore Tom? Ibid. 59 Blisse thy fiue Wits, Toms a cold.., Do poore Tom some charitie, whom the foule Fiend vexes. 1682–3 Dixon Canidia i. ii, We treat mad-Bedlams, Toms, and Besses, With ceremonies and caresses.

  c. A clown; cf. tom-fool b.

1820 Sporting Mag. VI. 284 Two or three of the company called toms or clowns.

  d. A girl or woman. Austral. slang.

[1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 8 Tom-tart, Sydney, phrase for a girl or sweetheart.] 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands i. 8, I may be wrong in thinkin' your tom was tryin' t' mash ther man shootin' off ther camera. 1951 D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 102 ‘You did, darling,’ one of the little social toms said. She was a nuggety little sheila.

  e. A prostitute. slang.

[1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 84 Tommy... A prostitute.] 1941 V. Davis Phenomena in Crime xix. 255 Tom, old prostitute. 1955 M. Hastings Cork & Serpent i. 12 I'll bet she's holding out on us. We know these toms, sir. 1957 H. Williamson Golden Virgin ix. 134 ‘Is Lily a tom?’.. ‘Not within the meaning of the act. She works in Nett's Laundry, on the lower side of Randiswell Bridge. Of course, I don't say she doesn't have a bit of fun at times, but that's her business.’ 1977 Time Out 17–23 June 18/1 What doesn't appear in the film but is very revealing about police mentality, is the filing room on prostitutes (or Toms as they are called).

  f. Short for Uncle Tom: a Black regarded, esp. by other Blacks, as behaving in a servile, ingratiating, or complaisant manner towards white people. slang.

1959 Esquire Nov. 122/1 Tom.., a Negro who does not try to maintain his complete dignity before whites. 1968 N. Giovanni in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 26 Toms, I told him, only have power if we let them have power. I mean, if a tom says get off the streets and you get off the streets, then that's your fault, not his. 1973 R. Ludlum Matlock Paper ii. 14 The African studies may be in trouble. That ‘Tom’ I recruited from Howard turned out to be..a little to the right of Louis XIV. 1975 Publishers Weekly 3 Feb. 72/1 By installing ‘American Nigger Toms’ as the Third World élite, the U.S. has controlled the angry hunger of the poor populace.

  † 2. The knave of trumps in the game of gleek.

1655, a 1659 [see Tib n. 2]. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester vi. 65 The Ace [of trumps] is called Tib, the Knave Tom.

  3. As the name of some exceptionally large bells, esp. in Great Tom, Mighty Tom, Tom of Lincoln, Tom of Christ Church, Tom of Oxford, Tom of Exeter, etc.

1630 White in Rimbault Rounds, Catches, etc. 30 (Farmer) Great Tom is cast; And Christ Church bells ring..And Tom is last. 1635 R. Johnson Tom a Lincolne ii. (1682) B iij, He sent..a thousand pounds..to be bestowed upon a great Bell to be rung at his Funeral, which Bell he caused to be called Tom a Lincoln, after his own Name. 1682 H. Aldrich Upon Christ Church Bells Oxf., The Devil a man Will leave his can, Till he hears the mighty Tom. 1685 Wood Life 7 July (O.H.S.) III. 151 And another [bonfire] in Ch. Ch. great quadrangle, at which time Great Tom rang out. 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. i. (1721) 63 Whose Tongue was as clamorous and loud almost as Tom a Lincoln. 1787 [see tinkler 2]. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 8/2 The old bell, called the Tom of Lincoln..being exceeded only by ‘Mighty Tom’ of Oxford..and ‘Great Tom’ of Exeter. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. xi. 369, I..amused myself till Tom rang in.

  4. a. (Usually Long Tom.) A long trough formerly used in gold-washing: see quot. 1859. Sometimes applied to the rocker or ‘cradle’.

1855 [see Long Tom 2]. 1859 Cornwallis Panorama New World I. 135 The Long Tom..consists of a trough ten or twelve feet in length, by sixteen inches in width, and tilted so that water may flow rapidly down it. 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 20 Inefficient implements have been largely superseded..by the long-tom and the sluice. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xiv, We drove and raised our wash-dirt.., and afterwards separated it..by the old-fashioned expedient of a ‘tom’. 1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail xxii. 326 They have to use quicksilver in their Long Toms and cradles to save it [gold].

  b. Long Tom: a long gun; esp. a naval gun mounted amidships, as distinct from the shorter guns of the broadside: see Long Tom 1.

1867– [see Long Tom 1]. 1888 W. B. Churchward Blackbirding 44 The ship was armed with four carronades on each side, and a ‘long Tom’ trained fore and aft, in the bows.

  5. Old Tom: a name for gin. slang.

1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Slang Dict. 130 Old Tom, he is of the feminine gender in most other nations than this: 'tis a cask or barrel, containing strong gin, and thence by a natural transition..the liquor itself. 1832 Egan Bk. Sports 268 Tis the ‘liquor of life’, with ‘spirits’ to boot—‘Old Tom’, is better than gold. 1836– [see old E. 4].

  6. The male of various beasts and birds; perh. first for a male cat: see tom cat n.; cf. also 8 a.

1791 Huddesford Salmag. (1793) 141 Cats..Of titles obsolete, or yet in use, Tom, Tybert, Roger, Rutterkin, or Puss. 1826–8 [see tabby n. 2 b]. 1884 Bazaar, Exch. & Mart 17 Dec. 2205/2 Hamburghs... Redcaps, four hens and tom, prize strain, handsome birds. 1893 G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xxxii. 214 The tom [swan] is very gallant in defence of his mate. 1898 Blackw. Mag. Nov. 663/2 He be a tom. I've heard him crow. 1905 Daily News 24 Jan. 8/1 Tiger, their cat (a beautifully marked tabby tom, aged five).

  7. Combinations and phrases. a. attrib. and Comb.: tom-pin, a very large pin (Halliwell 1847–78); tom-plough (local, E. Anglia), a double breasted plough; also called tommy and tom-tommy; † tom-rig [rig n.⁴], a strumpet; a romping girl, a tomboy; tom-toe, the great toe; Tom tower, a tower in which a great bell hangs; spec. at Oxford, the western tower of Christ Church; tom-trot (trot, tom-trod), home-made toffee stretched or drawn out as it cools (Halliwell).

1849 Raynbird Agric. Suff. 301 The *tom or tommy plough is a plough with a double breast for ridging, or for clearing out furrows.

1668 Shadwell Sullen Lovers Pref. a ij b, An impudent ill bred *tomrig for a Mistress. 1728 Dennis On Pope's Rape of Lock 16 The author represents Belinda a fine, modest, well-bred lady: and yet in the very next canto she appears an arrant ramp and tomrigg.

1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, *Tom toe, the great toe of either foot. 1857 in Dunglison Med. Lex.

1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. iii, As he looks across Christ Church Meadows and rolls past the *Tom Tower.

1844 Disraeli Coningsby i. ix, I want toffy; I have been eating *Tom Trot all day. 1866 [Charl. M. Tucker] Parlt. in Play-room x. 93 A plateful of brown, tempting tom-trot, otherwise known by the title of toffy.

  b. As the first element in a personal name applied allusively, as Tom Astoner (Estenor), Tom Brown, (see quots.); Tom Collins orig. U.S., a cocktail made of gin, lime or lemon juice, sugar, and soda water (cf. sense 5 and Collins²); Tom Dingle (see quot.); Tom Farthing, a fool, simpleton; Tom Pepper (Naut.), a liar; Tom Tailor, the tailor generically; Tom Tiler, Tyler, any ordinary man; also, a henpecked husband; Tom Towly, a simpleton; Tom Tram, a buffoon, jester; Tom Walker U.S. dial., the Devil; also the Devil and Tom Walker.

1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 80 It's barbarous..to have the Bread thus pick'd from our Mouths by little *Tom Estenors. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Tom Astoners, dashing fellows; from astound or ‘astony’, to terrify.

1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., *Tom Brown, twelve in hand, in crib.

1888 H. Johnson New Improved Bartenders Man. (rev. ed.) 227 *Tom Collins. 1906 L. Muckensturm Louis' Mixed Drinks 99 (heading) Tom Collins. 1959 ‘M. Ainsworth’ Murder is Catching xvi. 178 She made us both long cool Tom Collinses, the tumblers frosted with ice⁓chips. 1979 S. Rifkin McQuaid in August (1980) ii. 7 The bartender would make me a tall tom collins without any cherry.

1711 Brit. Apollo III. No. 144. 3/1 Never yet Woman..had..such a poor wretched *Tom Dingle.

1689 Shadwell Bury F. Prol. 21 For writing..silly Grub⁓street Songs worse than *Tom Farthing.

1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Tom Pepper, a term for a liar. 1820 Scott Monast. xxv, ‘We rend our hearts, and not our garments’... ‘The better..for yourselves, and the worse for Tom Tailor’, said the baron.

1582 Stanyhurst Epitaphs in æneis, etc. (Arb.) 154 An Epitaph..such as oure vnlearned Rythmours..make vpon thee death of euery *Tom Tyler. 1598 (title) Tom Tylere and his Wyfe. a 1625 Fletcher Woman's Prize ii. vi, She shall, Tom Tilers.

1582 Stanyhurst æneis Ded. (Arb.) 9 What *Tom Towly is so simple, that wyl not attempt, too bee a rithmoure?

1689 Prior Ep. to F. Shephard 172 All your wits, that fleer and sham, Down from don Quixote to *Tom Tram. c 1700 (title) The Mad Pranks of Tom Tram. 1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 39 To a Book..in Dutch, entituled, the Life of Uyle-Spegel, or Owl-glass; a Hero of equal Rank with Tom Tram in English.

1833 S. Smith Life & Writings J. Downing 139 They always would have their way in spite of every body and *Tom Walker besides. 1914 Dialect Notes IV. 71 He wukked like the Devil an' Tom Walker. 1949 ‘T. Nelson’ Backwoods Teacher xiii. 136, I don't know nary charm, but they's an' old sayin' that some folks says but all it is is, ‘Ol' Tom Walker [the devil] under yore hat, God the Father, God the Son, an' God the Holy Ghost.’ 1958 Virginia Q. Rev. Spring 261 He whispered: ‘Old Tom Walker under your hat. Father, son and holy ghost,’ the way blue-eyed Dulcie would have done.

  c. Followed by another word denoting or alluding to something (esp. the action or character) distinguishing the person to whom it is applied, forming a quasi-proper name or nickname, as in various phrases with specific sense: as Tom All-thumbs, Tom-ass, Tom(-a-)doodle, Tom Piper, Tom Tapster, Tom Tawny-coat, Tom Tell-troth (Tom-truth), Tom Trifler, Tom True-tongue, Tom Truth, Tom Two-tongued; Tom-a-Stiles: see quot. 1785, and cf. John-a-stiles; Tom Bray's bilk, at Cribbage: see quot.; Tom-come-tickle-me, an old card-game; Tom Cony (Conney), a simpleton, ninny; Tom Cox's traverse (Naut.): see quot. 1867; Tom Double, a shuffler, an equivocator; Tom Drum: see drum n.¹ 3 b; Tom Long, one who takes a long time in coming, or in finishing his tale; Tom of all trades, a Jack of all trades; Tom o' Bedlam, a madman, a deranged person discharged from Bedlam (see bedlam 5) and licensed to beg; Tom Pat (slang), a parson, a hedge-priest (cf. patrico); also, a shoe; Tom Poker, † Tom Po, a nursery bugbear, a bogy; Tom Pudding slang, one of the box-like iron boats that are connected together and towed by a tug to carry coal on canals (see also sense 8 b); Tom tumbler, name for an imp or devil. See also Tom and Jerry, tom-fool, Tom-noddy, Tom Thumb, Tom Tiddler's ground.

1598 I. M. Health Gent. Profession Servingmen B iij, The Clowne, the Slouen, and *Tom althummes.

1611 J. Field Panegyr. Verses in Coryat Crudities, *Tom-Asse may passe, but, for all his long eares, No such rich jewels as our Tom he weares.

1772 G. A. Stevens Songs Comic & Satyr. 246 From John o' Nokes to *Tom o' Stiles, What is it all but Fooling? 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T. s.v. Nokes, John-a-Nokes and Tom-a-Stiles.., fictitious names commonly used in law proceedings.

1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., *Tom Bray's Bilk, laying out ace and deuce at cribbage.

1819–20 W. Irving Sketch-Bk., Litt. Brit. (1865) 310 We played at All-Fours, Pope-Joan, *Tom-come-tickle-me, and other choice old games.

a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Tom Conney, a very silly fellow.

1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xii, Every man who has been three months at sea knows how to ‘work *Tom Cox's traverse’—‘three turns round the long⁓boat, and a pull at the scuttled-butt’. This morning everything went in his way. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Tom Cox's traverse, up one hatchway and down another: others say ‘three turns round the long boat, and a pull at the scuttle’. It means the work of an artful dodger, all jaw, and no good in him.

1708 E. Ward Terræ-Fil. v. 10 That one *Tom⁓doodle of a Son, who.. if he happens to be Decoy'd..to fling away Two Pence in Strong Drink, he Talks of nothing but his Mother. 1710 ― Brit. Hud. 31 Whether on him who'd..labour'd like a Tom-a-doodle, To place the Rump above the Noddle.

1705 Charac. of Sneaker 4 He's for a single Ministry, that he may play the *Tom Double under it. 1707 Reflex. upon Ridicule ii. 145 Tom-doubles are to be avoided as Enemies that would betray you.

1577, 1603 *Tom Drum's entertainment [see drum n.1 3 b]. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. iv. (1623) I ij, They gently giue them Tom Drum's entertainment.

1631 W. Foster Hoplochrisma-Spongvs 43 Surely this is *Tom Long the carrier, who will never doe his errand. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T., Tom Long, a tiresome story teller; it is coming by Tom Long, the carrier, said of any thing that has been long expected.

1631 T. Powell (title) *Tom of All Trades. Ibid. Ep. Ded. 13 Our Tom of all Trades hereupon Askt what was his condition.

1605 Shakes. Lear i. ii. 148 *Tom o' Bedlam. 1671 Glanvill Disc. M. Stubbe 28 [I] am afraid that some will think, that I am not well in my Wits, because I seriously answer such a Tom of Bedlam. a 1691 Aubrey Nat. Hist. Wilts. ii. iv. (1847) 93 Till the breaking out of the civill warres, Tom ô Bedlam's did travell about the countrey. They had been poore distracted men that had been putt into Bedlam, where recovering to some sobernesse they were licentiated to goe a begging. 1880 Shorthouse J. Inglesant (1881) I. 72 Wandering beggars and halfwitted people called ‘Tom o' Bedlams’ who were a recognised order of mendicants.

c 1700 Street Robberies Consider'd, *Tom Pat, a parson.

1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Oct. 78 *Tom Piper makes vs better melodie. 1616 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. ii. 32 So haue I seene Tom Piper stand vpon our village greene.

1744 Grey Hudibras II. 207 note, You are afraid that you shall meet *Tom Po. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Tom Poker,..the great bugbear and terror of naughty children, who inhabits dark closets [etc.]. 1902 Longm. Mag. Nov. 41, I tells him them days o' Tom-pokers be gone.

1906 Westm. Gaz. ?8 Mar. 8/2 Trains of iron compartment boats, known locally as ‘*Tom Puddings’, are towed all the way to Goole. 1949 Archit. Rev. CVI. 8/3 On the Aire and Calder, compartment boats, or Tom Puddings, are used. These are oblong iron boxes towed in trains up to 32 in number by steam tugs. 1970 New Society 19 Nov. 898/2 If you haven't seen a chain of tom puddings then you've missed one of the sights of England.

1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 275 Last to you *Tom tapster, that tap your smale cannes of beere to the poore, and yet fil them half ful of froth.

c 1600 Day Begg. Bednall Gr. i. iii, I think not but thou and this *Tom Tawny coat here gulls me.

1600 J. Lane Tom Tel-Troth 713 But sooth to say, *Tom-teltroth will not lie, We heere haue blaz'd Englands iniquitie. 1622 (title) Tom Tell Troath, or a Free Discourse touching the Manners of the Tyme. 1847–78 Halliwell, Tom-tell-trouth, a true guesser.

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iv. 17 And also *tomme trewe-tonge-telle-me-no-tales.

1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 68 b, They will all condemne you for *tomme trifler.

1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. ii. 179 b, For his malaparte toungne called at home..Parrhesiastes, (as ye woulde saye in englyshe), *Thom trouthe, or plain Sarisbuirie. 1550 Latimer Serm. at Stamford i. 94 Maister we know that thou art Tomme truth, and thou tellest the very truth, and sparest no man. 1580 G. Harvey Let. to Spenser iv. Wks. (Grosart) I. 83 Tell me, in Tom Trothes earnest, what [he] sayth.

1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxiii. 162 note, Here syre was a sysour þat neuere swor treuthe, Or *tomme [v.r. thomme] two-tounged ateynt at eche enqueste.

  8. a. In names of animals, denoting the male; see also tom cat.

1762 T. Bridges Homer Travest. (1772) 192 And, like Tom puss, o'er pantiles dance. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Tom-Dog, male dogs, as well as cats, take the prefix ‘tom’, in some parts of the West. 1871 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Stories 92, I never heard that a tom-turkey would set on eggs. 1875 Sussex Gloss., Tom, any cock bird, as a tom-turkey or a tom-parrot. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Tom, used to denote the male of birds, as ‘tom-bird’, ‘tom-chicken’, ‘tom-pheasant’. 1893 G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xxxii. 214 The tom-swan..landed on a likely spot. 1905 Daily Chron. 31 Oct. 4/7 In his part [Hampshire] people spoke of tom-rats, tom-rabbits, tom-mice, tom-hedgehogs [etc.].

  b. In familiar or local names of species: Tom-hoop [cf. hoop n.³ 2], Tom-noup [cf. nope n.¹] dial., the great tit (Parus major); Tom-pot, Tompot, name in Cornwall for the gattorugine, a species of blenny; in Devonshire, for the guinea-fowl, from its cry; in Devon and Somerset, a well-known kind of red-cheeked apple (also called tomput); Tom-pudding, the little grebe; Tom-tailor, the crane-fly; in East Anglia, the stormy petrel; Tom Titmouse = tomtit. See also tom-cod.

1847–78 Halliwell, *Tom-Noup, the titmouse. Salop.

1837 J. F. Palmer Gloss. Dialog. in Devon Dial. (E.D.D.), *Tom-put. 1863 Couch Brit. Fishes II. 219 Gattorugine..is known to fishermen of the west of England by the homely appellation of Tompot. 1891 Hartland (Devon) Gloss., Tom pot, a name sometimes given to the guinea-fowl on account of its peculiar cry. 1904 Longm. Mag. Apr. 489 Cheeks as rosy as a ‘tomput’ apple.

1848 Zoologist VI. 2290 The little grebe or ‘dipper’ or ‘dobber’ or ‘*Tom pudding’.

1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1887) I. 37 A Bœotian might stick it in a *tom-tailor. 1856 P. Thompson Hist. Boston List Provinc., Tom-tailor, the Daddy-long-legs. 1885 Swainson Provinc. Names Birds 212 They [Stormy Petrels] are called Tom tailors by the Lowestoft and Yarmouth fishermen.

1576 Gascoigne Philomene 26 Sometimes I wepe To see *Tom Tyttimouse, so much set by. c 1776 Roxb. Ball. (1889) VI. 308 Says Tom Tit-Mouse then, ‘There be some men That will change nine times a day’.

  Hence ˈtomling, a small or young tom cat; ˈtomship (humorous), the personality of a ‘Tom’.

1821 Southey Let. to C. Bedford 3 Apr., Moved by compassion (his [a cat's] colour and his tomship also being taken into consideration), I consented to give him an asylum. 1821 Ibid. 29 Apr., We are promised to succeed him a black Tomling.

Oxford English Dictionary