toy

Definition

  • noun: something a child plays with
  • noun: flirtatious or seductive behavior
  • verb: to act or deal with something lightly or without vigor or purpose
  • used to describe an animal (such as a dog) that is the smallest kind of a particular breed

Examples

  • ('US') a 'boy toy' = ('Brit') a 'toy boy' [=a young man who is having a romantic or sexual relationship with an older woman]

  • I 'toyed with' the idea of moving to France but ended up staying here.

  • She 'toyed' [='played'] 'with' her hair while she talked on the phone.

Movie quotes

  • (..) That'll stop anything that moves. A magnum, they use that in Africa for killing elephants. That., that's a fine gun. Some of these guns are like toys. That.... you go and hammer nails with it all day... come back and it'll cut dead center on target every time. It's got a really nice action to it (..)
    1976 Taxi Driver