noun
Davy
DAY-vee
noun
1
Short for Davy lamp, a miner’s safety lamp designed to burn without igniting flammable gases underground.
"Older mining museums still display a rusted davy hanging on the wall."
2
An informal or dialectal word for an affidavit, a sworn written statement.
"He signed a davy swearing he had witnessed the accident."
How to Use Davy
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a miner’s safety lamp named for its inventor, or an old informal term for a sworn statement.
When to use it
Both non-name senses are dated and mostly found in older or regional English.
Word Forms
Davies plural, Davys plural, davies plural, davys plural, davies plural
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Older mining museums still display a rusted _____ hanging on the wall.
Etymology
The lamp sense is named after its inventor, the chemist Humphry Davy, who developed it in 1815. As a nickname for David, "Davy" is simply a diminutive form of the name.