clowder
A group of cats or other small felines.
Noun
- A group of cats or other small felines.
- A Brooklyn friend who persists in feeding the host of creatures - including me - who appear at her door will be delighted to know that the most nonchalant recipients of her largesse may be referred to as a clowder of...
- Real cat fights are rare in established clowders. So instead of risking serious injury, cats resort to menace and threats. - 2007, Kathryn Soper, Cat Wrangling Made Easy:
- 2010, The Big Bang Theory, episode “The Zazzy Substitution” Leonard: You’re clearly upset about Amy being gone, and you’re trying to replace her with a bunch of cats. Sheldon: Clowder. Leonard: What? Sheldon: A group of...
Origin
A variation, recorded since 1801, of clutter, itself from clot, from Old English clott (“round mass, lump”), from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz (hence cognate with Dutch kloot (“ball, testicle”), Danish klods (“a block, lump”) and German Klotz (“lump, block”)).