Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small domesticated carnivorous mammal (Felis catus), kept as a pet and as catcher of vermin, and existing in a variety of breeds.
  • noun Any of various other carnivorous mammals of the family Felidae, including the lion, tiger, leopard, and lynx.
  • noun The fur of a domestic cat.
  • noun Informal A woman who is regarded as spiteful.
  • noun A person, especially a man.
  • noun A player or devotee of jazz music.
  • noun A cat-o'-nine-tails.
  • noun A catfish.
  • noun A cathead.
  • noun A device for raising an anchor to the cathead.
  • noun A catboat.
  • noun A catamaran.
  • intransitive verb To hoist an anchor to (the cathead).
  • intransitive verb To look for sexual partners; have an affair or affairs.
  • idiom (let the cat out of the bag) To let a secret be known.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In medieval warfare, a machine resembling the pluteus, under the protection of which soldiers worked in sapping walls and fosses.
  • noun plural In mining, burnt clay used for tamping.
  • noun Same as channel-cat.
  • noun A domesticated carnivorous quadruped of the family Felidæ and genus Felis, F. domestica.
  • noun In general, any digitigrade carnivorous quadruped of the family Felidæ, as the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, etc., especially of the genus Felis, and more particularly one of the smaller species of this genus; and of the short-tailed species of the genus Lynx.
  • noun A ferret.
  • noun A gossipy, meddlesome woman given to scandal and intrigue.
  • noun A catfish.
  • noun A whip: a contraction of cat-o'-nine-tails.
  • noun A double tripod having six feet: so called because it always lands on its feet, as a cat is proverbially said to do.
  • noun In the middle ages, a frame of heavy timber with projecting pins or teeth, hoisted up to the battlements, ready to be dropped upon assailants. Also called prickly cat.
  • noun A piece of wood tapering to a point at both ends, used in playing tip-cat.
  • noun The game of tip-cat. Also called cat-and-dog.
  • noun In faro, the occurrence of two cards of the same denomination out of the last three in the deck.
  • noun In coal-mining, a clunchy rock. See clunch.
  • noun [Apparently in allusion to the sly and deceitful habits of the cat.] A mess of coarse meal, clay, etc., placed on dovecotes, to allure strangers.
  • noun In plastering, that portion of the first rough coat which fills the space between the laths, often projecting at the back, and serving to hold the plaster firmly to the walls.
  • noun The salt which crystallizes about stakes placed beneath the holes in the bottom of the troughs in which salt is put to drain.
  • noun A ship formed on the Norwegian model, having a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist.
  • noun Nautical, a tackle used in hoisting an anchor from the hawse-hole to the cat-head.
  • noun An abbreviated form of catamaran.
  • An abbreviation of Catalan: [lowercase] of catalogue; of catechism.
  • noun The form of cata- before a vowel.
  • To act after the manner of soft clay or mortar in filling crevices.
  • To draw (an anchor) up to the cat-head.
  • To fill with soft clay, as the intervals between laths: as, a chimney well catted.
  • To fish for catfish.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any animal belonging to the natural family Felidae, and in particular to the various species of the genera Felis, Panthera, and Lynx. The domestic cat is Felis domestica. The European wild cat (Felis catus) is much larger than the domestic cat. In the United States the name wild cat is commonly applied to the bay lynx (Lynx rufus). The larger felines, such as the lion, tiger, leopard, and cougar, are often referred to as cats, and sometimes as big cats. See wild cat, and tiger cat.
  • noun A strong vessel with a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and deep waist. It is employed in the coal and timber trade.
  • noun A strong tackle used to draw an anchor up to the cathead of a ship.
  • noun A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.), having six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English catt, from Germanic *kattuz; akin to Late Latin cattus and Old Church Slavonic kotŭka, all ultimately of unknown origin. Sense 6d, short for catamaran.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened from methcathinone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of catamaran.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly a shortened form of catastrophic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened from catapult.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of catenate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cat, catte, from Old English catt ("male cat") and catte ("female cat"), from Late Latin cattus ("domestic cat"), from Latin catta (c.75 B.C., Martial), from Afro-Asiatic (compare Nubian kadís, Berber kaddîska 'wildcat'), from Late Egyptian čaute, feminine of čaus 'jungle cat, African wildcat', from earlier Egyptian tešau 'female cat'. Cognate with Scots cat ("cat"), Welsh cath ("cat"), West Frisian kat ("cat"), North Frisian kåt ("cat"), Dutch kat ("cat"), Low German Katt, Katte ("cat"), German Katze ("cat"), Danish kat ("cat"), Swedish katt ("cat"), Icelandic köttur ("cat").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cat.

Examples

  • In a subsequent passage, "I am as melancholy as a gibb'd cat" -- we are told that _cat_ is not the domestic animal of that name, but a contraction of _catin_, a woman of the town.

    Famous Reviews R. Brimley Johnson 1899

  • For example, that familiar animal the cat is called in Guyenne _lou catou_ and even _lou cat_; but the word belongs to the Romance language, and is the same all through Languedoc and

    Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine Edward Harrison Barker 1885

  • "To class man and the ape together, or the lion with the cat, and to say that the lion is a _cat with a mane and a long tail_ -- this were to degrade and disfigure nature instead of describing her and denominating her species."

    Evolution, Old & New Or, the Theories of Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck, as compared with that of Charles Darwin Samuel Butler 1868

  • As for a cat itself, I cannot say too much against it; and it is singular, that the other meanings of the single word are equally disagreeable; as to _cat_ the anchor, is a sign of _going to sea_, and the _cat_ at the gangway is the worst of all.

    Olla Podrida Frederick Marryat 1820

  • : This is a very rare sight at Casa Da Costa ... a cat actually sitting in a * cat* bas .. tinyurl. com / d42l4o

    Portia Da Costa 2009

  • (face scrunched-half cry-makes like a cat cleaning itself) ... the cat 

    Oh, Dada! 2010

  • Barbaste, pren garde a la gatte qué bay gatoua: "-- 'Millar of Barbaste, beware of the cat' (_gatte_ means, indifferently, _cat_ or _mine_) 'which is going to kitten' (_gatoua_ has the meaning of _blowing up_, as well.)

    Béarn and the Pyrenees A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre Louisa Stuart Costello 1834

  • (El Guirri ´s cat is the ´ninja cat fail cat´, Thu 12 Mar,

    B3ta 2009

  • (El Guirri ´s cat is the ´ninja cat fail cat´, Thu 12 Mar,

    B3ta 2009

  • The full cast includes the singing voices of Ms. Harrow (as the title cat), Grady Tate (as the Artist), Anton Krukowski and Daryl Sherman, with Kameron Steele as the narrator.

    The Cat Who Went To Heaven At HSA « 2009

  • That is how I got my “Cat 5 tattoo” – a greasy chainring imprint on the inside of your right calf. My brother-in-law introduced me to it gleefully because it’s meant as an insult.

    How do you know I’m an idiot? Take a look at my right calf | Zoe Williams Zoe Williams 2022

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • As an adjective in Ireland, it means 'terrible', 'disgusting' or 'odious'.

    February 23, 2007

  • See mice.

    September 9, 2007

  • Supposedly, cat's have got 32 muscles in each ear!

    October 5, 2007

  • Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the deaths of their cats.

    May 7, 2008

  • Cats. What are they thinking?

    July 17, 2008

  • The ship broke out her own anchor, which we catted and fished, after a fashion, and were soon close-hauled, under reefed sails, standing off from the lee shore and rocks against a heavy head sea.

    - Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, ch. 25

    September 9, 2008

  • n. acronym for: computerized axial tomography.

    February 18, 2009

  • Means "paint" in Indonesian.

    July 13, 2009

  • Not a homophone though.

    July 18, 2009

  • also, a collier or coal ship

    July 30, 2010

  • "23. In medieval warfare, a machine resembling the pluteus, under the protection of which soldiers worked in sapping walls and fosses."

    --Century Dictionary

    January 8, 2011

  • Why is this always a "trending word"?

    May 12, 2011

  • Sionnach's kitties at the keyboard again.

    May 12, 2011

  • Still trending, after all this time. Cats are so hot right now. Apparently.

    June 1, 2011

  • Hm. The word cat still seems to be trending. I wonder why--maybe I should just click on it to find out....

    *click*

    Ooh! Look! A delicious food pellet!

    June 9, 2011

  • *click*

    June 9, 2011

  • *click*

    June 9, 2011

  • But who would affix the tag "false friend" to a puddy-tat? Spiteful bastards, that's who.

    June 9, 2011

  • Spiteful, but possibly not the owner of a blog about cat whipping.

    June 9, 2011

  • That's just your barcoo disease talking, mister!

    June 9, 2011

  • If you wish to brag about your superior digestion of cyanobacterial toxins, go ahead. Beast!

    June 9, 2011

  • mijaauuu

    *Erazma, pejd stran od računalnika!*

    Apologies, all. My cat Erazma was playing with the keyboard again.

    June 14, 2011

  • That's strange--I thought all cats spoke Latvian.

    Edit: And English.

    June 14, 2011

  • Believe you will love it.

    we will give you a big discount

    Opportunity knocks but once

    welcome to: http://yessoso.com

    July 30, 2011

  • its disturbing to me that this is always at the top of the trending list, and now there's two of them. I'm disturbed enough as it is, this is not good.

    August 5, 2011

  • are the 'trending words' words actually updating? cat is always #1. it's utterly disturbing to me. dog is nowhere in sight. lol

    September 25, 2011

  • Rolig, is your cat named after Dr. Erasmus Darwin? (See the first example above.)

    January 5, 2012

  • Chartered Account Training.. CAT

    search engine optimization service

    January 15, 2012

  • blafferty Why is this always a "trending word"? May 12, 2011 ⋅ Spam?

    Has our moggy notched up a year of trending?!

    May 10, 2012

  • We use this word to test that everything is up and running, so it gets looked up a lot. We could filter it out, but we like cats. :-)

    May 10, 2012

  • *click*

    June 1, 2012