PLAYTHING

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An artifact designed to be played with

Synonyms:

plaything; toy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("plaything" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plaything"):

yo-yo (a toy consisting of a spool that is reeled up and down on a string by motions of the hand)

squirt gun; squirter; water gun; water pistol (plaything consisting of a toy pistol that squirts water)

train set (a toy consisting of small models of railroad trains and the track for them to run on)

spinning top; teetotum; top; whirligig (a conical child's plaything tapering to a steel point on which it can be made to spin)

teddy; teddy bear (plaything consisting of a child's toy bear (usually plush and stuffed with soft materials))

swing (mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth)

stick horse (a child's plaything consisting on an imitation horse's head on one end of a stick)

catapult; sling; slingshot (a plaything consisting of a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms; used to propel small stones)

playground slide; slide; sliding board (plaything consisting of a sloping chute down which children can slide)

dandle board; seesaw; teeter; teeter-totter; teeterboard; teetertotter; tilting board (a plaything consisting of a board balanced on a fulcrum; the board is ridden up and down by children at either end)

sandbox; sandpile; sandpit (a plaything consisting of a pile of sand or a box filled with sand for children to play in)

rattle (a baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken)

popgun (plaything consisting of a toy gun that makes a popping sound)

pogo stick (plaything consisting of a pole with foot rests and a strong spring; propelled by jumping)

playhouse; wendy house (plaything consisting of a small model of a house that children can play inside of)

pinwheel; pinwheel wind collector (a toy consisting of vanes of colored paper or plastic that is pinned to a stick and spins when it is pointed into the wind)

ball (a spherical object used as a plaything)

balloon (small thin inflatable rubber bag with narrow neck)

cockhorse (anything used as a toy horse (such as a rocking horse or one knee of an adult))

doll; dolly (a small replica of a person; used as a toy)

doll's house; dollhouse (a small model of a house used as a toy by children)

Frisbee (a light, plastic disk about 10 inches in diameter; propelled with a flip of the wrist for recreation or competition)

hobby; hobbyhorse; rocking horse (a child's plaything consisting of an imitation horse mounted on rockers; the child straddles it and pretends to ride)

hula-hoop (plaything consisting of a tubular plastic hoop for swinging around the hips)

jack-in-the-box (plaything consisting of a toy clown that jumps out of a box when the lid is opened)

jungle gym (a structure of vertical and horizontal rods where children can climb and play)

jumping jack (plaything consisting of a toy figure with movable joints that can be made to dance by pulling strings)

kaleidoscope (an optical toy in a tube; it produces symmetrical patterns as bits of colored glass are reflected by mirrors)

kite (plaything consisting of a light frame covered with tissue paper; flown in wind at end of a string)

Lego; Lego set ((trademark) a child's plastic construction set for making mechanical models)

Meccano; Meccano set (a child's construction set for making mechanical models)

pea shooter (a straight narrow tube through which pellets (as dried peas) can be blown at a target)

pinata (plaything consisting of a container filled with toys and candy; suspended from a height for blindfolded children to break with sticks)

Credits

Context examples:

She again gave him a handful of ducats, but he would not keep them, and gave them to the gardener for playthings for his children.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial Nature was broken only by the brawling waves or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche or the cracking, reverberated along the mountains, of the accumulated ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their hands.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Having spread the quilt and folded my night-dress, I went to the window-seat to put in order some picture-books and doll's house furniture scattered there; an abrupt command from Georgiana to let her playthings alone (for the tiny chairs and mirrors, the fairy plates and cups, were her property) stopped my proceedings; and then, for lack of other occupation, I fell to breathing on the frost-flowers with which the window was fretted, and thus clearing a space in the glass through which I might look out on the grounds, where all was still and petrified under the influence of a hard frost.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I seldom found that the places to which they belonged were locked, or that they were of any use except as a plaything for Jip—but Dora was pleased, and that pleased me.