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tom
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As a noun, tom means the intact male of the domesticated cat. As a verb, it means act in an obsequiously servile manner toward white authority.
Meanings of tom
13 meaningsnoun
The intact male of the domesticated cat.
The male of the turkey.
The male of the orangutan.
The male of certain other animals.
UKslangA female prostitute.
USslangA lesbian.
UKgreengrocers' slangA tomato (the fruit).
“Toms 90p a pound”
cockney rhyming slangJewellery
(ethnic slur) offensive and derogatory name for a Black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to Whitesperson
Similar: Uncle Tom
Older and rare meanings (2)
obsoleteThe jack of trumps in the card game gleek.
UKregionalobsoleteA close-stool.
Clipping of tom-tom.
verb
derogatoryof a black personTo act in an obsequiously servile manner toward white authority.
nauticalTo dig out a hole below the hatch cover of a bulker and fill it with cargo or weights to aid stability.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).