cat

• The weather was cat, so they returned home early.

• Mammals need two genes to make the taste receptor for sugar. Studies in various cats (tigers, cheetahs and domestic cats) showed that one of these genes has mutated and no longer works. - 2011, Karl Kruszelnicki, Brain...

Synonyms: felid feline panther[Panthera pantherine[Pantherinae

1. (countable) A mammal of the family Felidae.

2. (countable) A mammal of the family Felidae.

   A carnivorous, four-legged, generally furry domesticated species (Felis catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet.

   • At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs. -...
   • A major genetic survey of nearly 1,000 feral and domestic cats has revealed that every breed of household cat alive today originates from just five lineages which lived alongside ancient settlers in the Fertile...
   • A group of wild cats is called a destruction. - 2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC, archived from the original on 27 Jan 2022:

   Synonyms: felid feline panther[Panthera pantherine[Pantherinae grimalkin kitty kitty-cat puss pussy pussy-cat

   Hyponyms: housecat kitten malkin mouser tomcat

3. (countable) A mammal of the family Felidae.

   A carnivorous, four-legged, generally furry domesticated species (Felis catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet.

   (uncountable) The flesh of this animal eaten as food.

   • “[…]—Say, do you mind telling me if people around here really eat cats?” He felt a shiver in the pit of his stomach. “Do they eat cat?” said the little old man, profoundly shocked. - 1948, Harry Stephen Keeler, The Case...
   • You do not eat cat simply for the thrill of eating cat. You eat cat because cats have a lively jingshen, or spirit, and thus by eating the animal you will improve your spirits. - 2013, Peter Hessler, Strange Stones:...
   • I ate at a Chinese restaurant once, even though my friends told me I would probably be eating cat and dog disguised as chicken. - 2013, James Bartleman, The Redemption of Oscar Wolf, Dundurn, →ISBN:

   Synonyms: felid feline panther[Panthera pantherine[Pantherinae grimalkin kitty kitty-cat puss pussy pussy-cat catflesh cat meat gutter rabbit roof rabbit

   Hyponyms: housecat kitten malkin mouser tomcat

4. (countable) A mammal of the family Felidae.

   Any similar, chiefly non-domesticated, carnivorous mammal of the family Felidae, which includes bobcats, caracals, cheetahs, cougars, leopards, lions, lynxes, tigers, and other such species.

   • I grabbed it and ran over to the lion from behind, the cat still chewing thoughtfully on Silent's arm. - 1977, Peter Hathaway Capstick, Death in the Long Grass: A Big Game Hunter's Adventures in the African Bush, St....
   • If you should someday round a corner on the hiking trail and come face to face with a mountain lion, you would probably never forget the mighty cat. - 1985 January, George Laycock, “Our American Lion”, in Boys' Life,...
   • She felt privileged to be here, living the experience inside the majestic cat [a tiger]; privileged to be part of their bond, even for only a few hours. - 2014, Dale Mayer, Rare Find. A Psychic Visions Novel, Valley...

   Synonyms: felid feline panther[Panthera pantherine[Pantherinae

5. (countable, by extension) Chiefly with a descriptive word: an animal not of the family Felidae which (somewhat) resembles a domestic feline (etymology 1, noun sense 1.1.1).

   • civet cat polecat

• But, ere one rapid moon its tale has told, / He finds his prize — a cat — a slut — a scold. - 1835 September, “The Pigs”, in The New-England Magazine, volume IX, page 156:

Synonyms: bitch

1. (derogatory, offensive) An angry or spiteful person, especially a woman.

2. (slang, dated) An ordinary person, especially a man; a fellow, a guy.

   • Now you've listened to my story / Here's the point that I have made / Cats were born to give chicks fever / Be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade - 1958, “Fever”, Eddie Cooley, Otis Blackwell, Peggy Lee (lyrics), performed by...
   • Didn't know what time it was the lights were low / I leaned back on my radio / Some cat was layin' down some rock'n'roll 'lotta soul, he said - 1972, “Starman”, in The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders...
   • 1973 December, "Books Noted", discussing A Dialogue (by James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni), in Black World, Johnson Publishing Company, 77. BALDWIN: That's what we were talking about before. And by the way, you did not...

   Synonyms: bloke chap cove dude fella joe boy bro broski bruh cat chappy chield covey dog [⇒ thesaurus] (slang) dawg fellow gadgie gate geezer gink gloak gome guy

3. (US, slang) Synonym of itinerant worker.

   Synonyms: itinerant worker

4. (originally US, jazz, slang) A jazz musician; also, an enthusiast of jazz music.

   • a jazz cat
   • I turn on the radio / There's some cat on the saxophone / Laying down a litany of excuses - 2008, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Hold on to Yourself”:

   Synonyms: hepcat

5. (slang, obsolete) Synonym of prostitute.

   • "Tell me. Willie said there was a cat in love with you. That isn't true, is it?" "Yes. It's true," Hudson corrects her, letting her think that by "cat" he means prostitute. - 1999, Carl P. Eby, Hemingway’s Fetishism:...

   Synonyms: prostitute

1. A double tripod for holding a plate, etc., with six feet, of which three rest on the ground in whatever position it is placed.

2. (games) (archaic, uncountable) The game of trap ball; also (countable), the trap in that game.

3. (games) (archaic, countable) The pointed piece of wood that is struck in the game of tipcat.

4. (countable, nautical) A strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship.

   • Overhaul down & hook the cat, haul taut. Walk away the cat. When up, pass the cat head stopper. Hook the fish in & fish the anchor. - 2009, Olof A. Eriksen, Constitution - All Sails Up and Flying, Outskirts Press, page...

5. (countable, nautical) (chiefly nautical) Ellipsis of cat-o'-nine-tails.

   • [H]e whipped a black man for disobedience of his orders fifty lashes; and again whipped him with a cat, which he wound with wire, about the same number of stripes;[…] he used this cat on one other man, and then...

6. (countable, nautical) (archaic) Now only in catboat: a sturdy merchant sailing vessel.

7. (military, historical) A wheeled shelter, used in the Middle Ages to protect assailants approaching besieged enemy defences; a cathouse.

   • From behind the narrow slits in the walls of Castellar, crossbowmen and archers took aim at the juddering cat as it came closer. - 2000, Stephen O'Shea, The Perfect Heresy, Profile Books, page 97:

   Synonyms: tortoise Welsh cat

8. (African-American Vernacular, slang, vulgar) A vagina or vulva.

   • "What the hell, so this broad's got a prematurely-gray cat." - 1969, Iceberg Slim, Pimp: The Story of My Life, Holloway House Publishing:
   • As she came up, she tried to put her cat in his face for some licking. - 2005, Carolyn Chambers Sanders, Sins & Secrets, Hachette Digital:
   • I had a notion to walk over to her, rip her apron off, sling her housecoat open and put my finger inside her cat to see if she was wet or freshly fucked because the dream I had earlier was beginning to really annoy me....

• a carrier's bow cats

• These cats are a lot of fun in the harbor, but they're a real thrill on the open ocean riding ground swells. - 1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:

• She missed the fish diet of her own country, and twice every summer she sent the boys to the river, twenty miles to the southward, to fish for channel cat. - 1913, Willa Cather, chapter 2, in O Pioneers!:
• Fishing for cat is probably, up to a certain stage, the least exciting of all similar sports. - 1916, M. Shults, “Fishing for Yellow Cat in the Brazos”, in Field and Stream, vol. 21, 478:

1. (slang) Any of a variety of earth-moving machines. (from their manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.)

2. A ground vehicle which uses caterpillar tracks, especially tractors, trucks, minibuses, and snow groomers.

• The anchors were catted at the bows of the yacht […] - 1922, Francis Lynde, Pirates’ Hope, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 226:

Synonyms: cathead

• ‘He's going to cat, Maxim,’ said the Pussum warningly. The suave young Russian rose and took Halliday by the arm, leading him away. - 1921, DH Lawrence, Women in Love, Vintage, published 2008, page 65:

• "He doesn't realize that I know," Lord Callan said, "but it's been pretty obvious that most of his catting about London's darker alleys has been a search for his origins. - 1998, Mary Spencer, Lady’s Wager, page 324:
• This was going to be my first try at catting out. I went looking for somebody to cat with me. - 2010, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land, page 18:
• My own dear wife could have tended to his needs if she hadn't been out catting. - 2012, Valerie Hansen, Wages of Sin:

• Men from young to middleaged, with matt faces, vivacious and brightly dressed, catted together in gay groups. - 1932, Hugh Brooke, Man Made Angry, page 134:
• They smiled, touched, rolled their eyes and raised their eyebrows, as they relived the audition and catted about some of their competition. - 1996, Alistair Boyle, The Unlucky Seven:
• In the story, Lady Ina gossiped and catted about a parade of the rich and famous—Jackie Kennedy looking like an exaggerated version of herself, Princess Margaret so boring she made people fall asleep, Gloria Vanderbilt...