ruby

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ruby •abbey, cabby, crabby, flabby, gabby, grabby, Rabbie, scabby, shabby, tabby, yabby •namby-pamby •Abu Dhabi, Babi, Darby, derby, kohlrabi, Mugabe, Punjabi, Wahhabi •Entebbe, plebby •cobwebby •Achebe, baby, maybe •Naseby • crybaby • bushbaby •freebie, Hebe, phoebe •Libby • Digby •astilbe, Philby, trilby •Dimbleby • nimby • Whitby •frisbee, Thisbe •Grimsby • renminbi • honeybee •oribi •Bobbie, bobby, Gobbi, hobby, knobby, lobby, snobby, swabbie •Dolby • zombie • Crosby •corbie, warby •Albee • Formby • Port Moresby •adobe, dhobi, dobe, Nairobi, obi, Robey •Toynbee •booby, jube, newbie, Newby, ruby •would-be •chubby, clubby, cubby, grubby, hubby, nubby, scrubby, shrubby, stubby, tubby •rugby • bumblebee • brumby • busby •Niobe • Jacobi • Lockerbie • Allenby •Willoughby • wallaby • wannabe •Araby • tsessebi • herby

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes
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ru·by / ˈroōbē/ • n. (pl. -bies) a precious stone consisting of corundum in color varieties varying from deep crimson or purple to pale rose. ∎  an intense purplish-red color. ∎ Printing an old type size equal to 51/2 points (smaller than nonpareil and larger than pearl).

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
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ruby a precious stone consisting of corundum in colour varieties varying from deep crimson or purple to pale rose (the term pigeon's blood is sometimes used of ruby of a particularly deep shade).

The name may also be used for the less valuable spinel ruby, a deep red variety of the mineral spinel. The ruby may also be taken as the type of something exceedingly precious, as in the biblical passage.
ruby wedding the fortieth (or occasionally, the forty-fifth) anniversary of a wedding; the name is recorded from the early 20th century.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES
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ruby Gem variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide), whose characteristic red colour is due to impurities of chromium and iron oxides. The traditional source of rubies is Burma. Today, synthetic rubies are widely used in industry.

World Encyclopedia
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ruby See CORUNDUM; and SPINEL.

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY
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ruby XIV. — OF. rubi (mod. rubis) — medL. rubīnus, sb. use of adj. f. base of L. rubeus, ruber RED.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD