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Chambers (1908)

Tom

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Historical source text, not a reviewed *SET-U analysis. Claims and terminology belong to this edition.

Tom, tom, n. a dim. of Thomas—used generically for man in 'tomfool,' &c.: a male, esp. a male cat: (prov.) a close-stool.—ns. Tom′-and-Jer′ry, a drink of hot rum and eggs, spiced and sweetened; Tom′-trot, a toffee made with treacle, sugar, and butter.—Tom, Dick, and Harry, any persons taken at random.—Long Tom, a long gun, as distinguished from a carronade, a gun carried amidships on a swivel-carriage.

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  • Historical scholarship from 1908; not current consensus or editorial verification.
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  • Public-domain determination applies to the United States; other jurisdictions require separate confirmation.
  • Chambers consulted earlier dictionaries including Skeat and the New English Dictionary; overlapping claims are not independent scholarly votes.

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Edition, rights and traceability

Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
Thomas Davidson (editor)
1908

Public-domain-US ↗ · United States

Publisher marks these historical texts public domain in the USA. Transformed book text excludes Gutenberg branding; source attribution is a bibliographic acknowledgment. No non-US public-domain determination is made.

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