davy

plural davies

1. An affidavit, a legally binding statement or oath

   Rather than testify in open court, each sailor posted a davy before sailing off.

   1 more example

   "You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy I should be rated ship's boy."

   1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

plural davys · plural davies

1. A Davy lamp, a type of safety lamp.

   The miner knew the old davy was safer than any open flame, but far riskier than a modern flashlight.

   1 more example

   He also developed the innovative davy lamp for use in coal mines.

   2009, Cutler J. Cleveland, Christopher G. Morris, editors, Dictionary of Energy: Expanded Edition, Elsevier, published 2009, page 124

alternative Davie

1. A diminutive of the male given name David.

   Tell him, I'll knock his leek about his pate Upon Saint Davy's day.

   1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

2. A surname originating as a patronymic derived from David.

plural Davies · plural Davys · alternative Davie

1. A Davy lamp.

   […] the experience of more than one of the best-regulated collieries of the north of England, where a vast number of Davies are in daily use.

   1845, The Literary Gazette