subs. (colloquial).—A cabman. [From CAB + Y.] Amongst French equivalents are une hirondelle (properly = ‘a swallow’); un maraudeur (i.e., ‘a marauder,’ one who plies without a license); Cf., PIRATE (q.v.), as applied to omnibuses.
1852. F. E. SMEDLEY, Lewis Arundel, ch. xxxiii. I was forced to offer him a seat in the cab, but he coolly replied, ‘No, thank ye … I’ll sit beside CABBY.’
1864–5. YATES, Broken to Harness, II., p. 41. Easy, CABBY; we don’t want to be thrown into the very midst of the aristocracy.
1890. Standard, Feb. 11, p. 3, col. 1. There was a Vienna CABBY with his jolly red face and his professional impudence.
