Tommy Atkins; a typical private in the British army; a British soldier.
"The hungry boy ate his lunch quickly, finishing the last of his hard toms before leaving school."
Bread, generally a penny roll.
In plain English: Tommy is an old-fashioned nickname for Thomas, often used to refer to someone's father.
"The tommy gave his lunch to the hungry dog in the park."
Usage: Use "tommy" as a noun specifically when referring to bread or food rations provided by an employer under the old truck system. This term is distinct from modern slang for clothing and should not be confused with unrelated words like "tummy."
To pay (employees) according to the truck system, with goods instead of money.
"The plantation owner kept his workers in debt by paying them only in rations from the company store rather than cash wages."
In plain English: To tommy means to eat something very quickly and greedily, usually without chewing it properly.
"The hungry dog began to tommy at the open garbage can."
A diminutive of the male given name Thomas.
"Tommy is a common nickname that his friends use when addressing him by his first name, Thomas."
The origin of "tommy" is generally accepted as a shift where it became a general term for itself, though the specific historical details remain unclear. It appears this linguistic evolution may have occurred multiple times independently across different meanings.