Webster
✕

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Coy

Coy (koi), a. [OE. coi quiet, still, OF. coi, coit, fr.L. quietus quiet, p. p. of quiescere to rest, quie rest; prob. akin to E. while. See While, and cf. Quiet, Quit, Quite.] 1. Quiet; still. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. Shrinking from approach or familiarity; reserved; bashful; shy; modest; — usually applied to women, sometimes with an implication of coquetry.

Coy, and difficult to win. Cowper.

Coy and furtive graces. W. Irving.

Nor the coy maid, half willings to be pressed, Shall kiss the cup, to pass it to the rest. Goldsmith.

3. Soft; gentle; hesitating.

Enforced hate, Instead of love's coy touch, shall rudely tear thee. Shak.

Syn. — Shy; shriking; reserved; modest; bashful; backward; distant.

Coy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Coyed (koid); p. pr. & vb. n. Coying.] 1. To allure; to entice; to decoy. [Obs.]

A wiser generation, who have the art to coy the fonder sort into their nets. Bp. Rainbow.

2. To caress with the hand; to stroke.

Come sit thee down upon this flowery bed, While I thy amiable cheeks do coy. Shak.

Coy, v. i. 1. To behave with reserve or coyness; to shrink from approach or familiarity. [Obs.]

Thus to coy it, With one who knows you too! Rowe.

2. To make difficulty; to be unwilling. [Obs.]

If he coyed To hear Cominius speak, I 'll keep at home. Shak.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.