| 释义 |
▪ I. cat, n.1|kæt|
Forms: 1 catte, catt, 2–7 catt, 4–6 catte, (3–7 kat, 6 katte), 1– cat.
[The ME. and mod. cat corresponds at once to OE. cat and ONF. cat. The name is common European of unknown origin: found in Lat. and Gr. in 1–4th c., and in the modern langs. generally, as far back as their records go. Byzantine Gr. had κάττα (in Cæsarius c 350) and later κάττος, as familiar terms = αἴλουρος; mod.Gr. has γάτα from Ital. Latin had catta in Martial a 100, and in the Old Latin Bible version (‘Itala’), where it renders αἴλουρος. Palladius, ? c 350, has catus, elsewhere scanned cātus (Lewis and Short), and prob. in both cases properly cattus. From cattus, catta, came all the Romanic forms, It. gatto, Sp., Pg. gato, Cat. gat, Pr. cat, ONF. cat, F. chat, with corresponding feminines gatta, gata, cata, cate, chate, chatte. The Teutonic forms recorded are OE. cat, catt, ON. kött-r (:—kattuz) masc., genit. kattar (Sw. katt, Da. kat); also OE. catte ? fem., WGer. *katta (MLG. katte, MDu. katte, kat, Du. kat, also Sw. katta), OHG. chazzâ (MHG., mod.G. katze) fem.; OHG. had also chataro, MHG. katero, kater, mod.G. and Du. kater, he-cat. The OTeut. types of these would be *kattuz masc., *kattôn- fem., *kat(a)zon- masc.; but as no form of the word is preserved in Gothic, it is not certain that it goes back to the OTeut. period. It was at least WGer. c 400–450. It is also in Celtic: OIr. cat masc., Gael. cat com., Welsh and Cornish cath f., Breton kaz, Vannes kac'h m. Also in Slavonic, with type kot-: OSlav. kot'ka f., Bulg. kotka, Slovenish kot m., Russ. kot m., kotchka, koshka f., Pol. kot (koczur m.), Boh. kot m., kotka f., Sorabian kotka; also Lith. kate; Finnish katti.
(These forms indicate extensive communication of the word, but do not fix the original source. History points to Egypt as the earliest home of the domestic cat, and the name is generally sought in the same quarter; Martial's attribute might incline us to a Slavonic or Teutonic origin: c 75 Martial xiii. 69 Pannonicas nobis nunquam dedit Umbria cattas.a250Baruch vi. 21 (‘Itala’) Noctuæ et hirundines et aves, similiter et cattæ [LXX. καὶ οἱ αἴλουροι]. ]
I. The animal.
1. a. A well-known carnivorous quadruped (Felis domesticus) which has long been domesticated, being kept to destroy mice, and as a house pet.
a800Corpus Gloss. 863 Fellus (felis), catte. a1000ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 120 Muriceps, uel musio, murilegus, catt. c1050Gloss. ibid. 445 Muriceps, cat. a1225Ancr. R. 416 Ne schulen habben no best, bute kat one. c1300K. Alis. 5275 By nighth als a cat hy seeth. c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 348 Who so wolde senge the cattes skin, Than wol the cat wel dwellen in hire in. c1520Andrewe Noble Lyfe in Babees Bk. (1868) 224 The mouse hounter or catte is an onclene beste, & a poyson ennemy to all myse. 1556Chron. Grey Fr. (1852) 88 Item..was a katte hongyd on the gallos in Cheppe clothed lyke a preste. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 315 The Cat will mew, and Dogge will haue his day. 1699B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Mouse, He watcht me as a Cat does a Mouse. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 188 ⁋12 Purring like a cat. 1832A. Fonblanque Engl. under 7 Admin. (1837) II. 272 The ruffians who threw dead dogs and dead cats at the Duke.
b. The male or he-cat (formerly also boar-cat, ram-cat) is now colloquially called tom-cat (see Tom); formerly and still in north Engl. and Sc. gib-cat (see gib); the female or she-cat was formerly also doe-cat.
c1400Rom. Rose 6207 Gibbe our cat That awaiteth mice and rattes to killen. a1529Skelton P. Sparowe 22 To call Phylyp agayne, Whom Gyb our cat hath slayne. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 83, I am as Melancholy as a Gyb-Cat. 1607–1797 [See boar-cat]. 1611Cotgr., Chate, a she-cat or doe-cat. 1667Pepys Diary 29 Nov., Our young gibb-cat did leap down our stairs..at two leaps. 1749Coles Eng. Lat. Dict., A gib-cat, felis mas. 1760Life & Adv. of a Cat iv, Tom the Cat is born of poor but honest parents. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Gib cat, a northern name for a he cat, there commonly called Gilbert. 1791Huddesford Salmagundi (1793) 141 Cats..of titles obsolete or yet in use, Tom, Tybert, Roger, Rutterkin, or Puss. 1795Wolcott (P. Pindar), Peter's Pension, Clapping their dead ram-cats in holy ground. 1839Tom-cat [see 13 c].
c. wild cat, Felis Catus, the only representative of the feline genus found native in Great Britain; it is larger and stronger than the domestic cat, and is by some considered a distinct species.
c1400in Cod. Dipl. IV. 236 For hare, and foxe, and wild cattes. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 23 The church is no wylde cat: it will stande still. 1847Carpenter Zool. §190 The Wild Cat..is now confined to Scotland, some of the woods in the North of England, the woody mountains of Wales, and some parts of Ireland.
2. fig.
a. As a term of contempt for a human being; esp. one who scratches like a cat; a spiteful or backbiting woman. spec. an itinerant worker (U.S. slang).
a1225Ancr. R. 102 Hweðer þe cat of helle claurede euer toward hire. 1601Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 295 A pox upon him for me, he's more and more a Cat. 1607― Cor. iv. ii. 34 'Twas you incenst the rable-Cats. 1763F. Brooke Lady J. Mandeville (1782) II. 72 An old cat..who is a famous proficient in scandal. 1778Johnson in Boswell (1887) III. 246 She was a speaking cat. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xii, His mother called me an old cat. 1926J. Black You can't Win vi. 67 Buy nothin'... It's you kind of cats that make it tough on us, buyin' chuck. Ibid. xvi. 220 Harvest workers were called blanket stiffs or gay cats. Ibid. 221 They stuck up the cats, took their money, [etc.].
†b. slang. A prostitute. Obs.
[1401Pol. Poems II. 113 Be ware of Cristis curse, and of cattis tailis.] 1535Lyndesay Satyre 468 Wantonnes. Hay! as ane brydlit cat, I brank. 1670B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Cat, a common Whore. 1708Motteux Rabelais (1737) V. 217 Wrigglers, Misses, Cats, Rigs.
c. An expert in, or one expertly appreciative of, jazz. slang (orig. U.S.). Cf. hep-cat.
[1922J. A. Carpenter (title of ballet) Krazy Kat.] 1932Melody Maker Oct. 836/1 [citing L. Armstrong] All the cats were there. 1935Down Beat 1 Nov. 8. The slanguage of swing-terms that ‘cats’ use. 1936Delineator Nov. 49/2 Cats, the musicians of a swing orchestra. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 183/1 Cats, those members of the audience who are receptive to jazz music or who understand it. 1937L. Armstrong Swing that Music xiii. 111, I wanted to give 'em a load of how we swing that music at home. My ‘cats’ understood it the same way and began lickin' their chops, as we say it. 1955Shapiro & Hentoff Hear Me talkin' to Ya xix. 299 Minton's was just a place for cats to jam... When you went in you'd see cats half-stewed who weren't paying much mind to what was happening on stage. 1958Woman's Own 19 Feb. 22/1 ‘It's got beat and a lot of excitement,’ said one teenage ‘cat’ I talked to.
d. slang. A ‘regular guy’, fellow, man.
1957Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 372 Cat, regular fellow, guy. 1959A. Anderson Lover Man 116 'At-dam, man, youre the selfishest kat I seen yet. 1959C. MacInnes in Encounter Aug. 35/2 The coloured cats saw I had an ally, and melted.
3. Zool. Extended (usually in pl.) to the members of the genus Felis, including the lion, tiger, panther, leopard, etc.; the feline animals or cat-kind, cat tribe. It enters into the name of some of these, as the tiger-cat of South America.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 383 Panthers, Pardals, Linxes, or Tygers, had been all of the kinde of Cats. 1796Stedman Surinam II. xviii. 51 The tyger cat is a very lively animal, with its eyes emitting flashes like lightning. 1834McMurtrie Curier's Anim. Kingd. 68 Of all the Carnaria the Cats are the most completely and powerfully armed. 1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 430/2 Leopards, the name by which the greater spotted cats are known.
4. a. With qualifications (or contextually) applied to some animals of similar appearance, as civet-cat, musk-cat, pole-cat, etc.; and in further extension to other animals, as flying-cat (Cant), an owl (cf. Fr. chat-huant); sea-cat, the Wolf-fish.
1553Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 25 In this region are founde many muske cattes. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 70 Ciuet is..the verie vncleanly fluxe of a cat. 1605― Lear iii. iv. 109 Thou ow'st..the Cat, no perfume. 1699B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Flutter, An Owl is a Flying-Cat. 1859Yarrell Brit. Fishes (ed. 3) II. 384 The wolf-fish, sea-wolf, sea-cat, Scotland. Ibid. 385 The savage Sea-cat is speedily rendered incapable of doing further harm. 1870Every Boy's Ann. (Rtldg.) 628 The polecat had pounced upon the bait..Between the two [dogs] the cat was killed.
b. Short for catfish 1 b.
1705R. Beverly Hist. Virginia (1722) 129 Conger-Eels, Perch, and Cats. 1796Stedman Surinam II. xviii. 60 The spotted-cat..this fish is formed not unlike a pike. 1848–60Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v. Catfish..is also called by the name of Horned-pout, Bull-head, Mud-pout, Minister, or simply Cat.
†5. Short for cat-skin, cat's fur. Obs.
1656Sheph. Kalendar xxvii, Cats, Conies, Lambs, and diverse other thicke furres that be good and wholesome. 1677Hobbes Homer 148 And from him then they took his cap of cat.
II. Transferred senses.
6. a. A movable pent-house used in early times by besiegers to protect themselves in approaching fortifications, also called cat-house: cf. belfry, sow. In OF. chat-chastel (Cotgr.), med.L. cattus.
(Caxton has barbed cat: otherwise little evidence appears of its use in Eng., except by modern historians translating Lat. cattus or Fr. chat.)
1489[see barbed-cat]. 1605[see cat-house in 18]. 1833Southey Naval Hist. Eng. I. 85 Machines which, under the names of ‘Cats’ and ‘Sows’, were used in sieges. 1860Reade Cloister & H. xliii. (D.) A strong pent-house, which they called a cat. 1885C. W. C. Oman Art of War 58 If the moat could be filled, and the cat brought close to the foot of the fortifications.
†b. A lofty work used in fortifications and sieges; a cavalier. Obs.
1628Wither Brit. Rememb. iv. 1304 A warlike Fort; A new rais'd Mount, or some fire-spitting Cat. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 524 Cavalier, a Mount raised on purpose to plant cannon on. Some call it a Cat. 1652Shirley Honoria & Mam. i. ii, Of turnpikes, flankers, cats, and counter-scarps.
7. Naut. Applied to different parts of the contrivance by which an anchor is raised out of the water to the deck of the ship, or suspended outside clear of the bow; chiefly = cat-head n., but also used for the cat-purchase and the cat-fall (see 18).
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 12 The forecastle..the Cat, Catshead and Cates holes. 1627― Seaman's Gram. ii. 11 The Cat is also a short peece of timber aloft right ouer the Hawse. 1670Dryden Tempest i. i, Haul Catt, haul Catt. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Cat, is..a.. strong tackle, or complication of pullies, to hook and draw the anchor..up to the cat-head. 1825H. Gascoigne Nav. Fame 50 The Cat is hook'd ‘Haultaught!’ their weight they ply By Sticking-out more Cable they supply. 1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 56 The cat, for lifting the whole weight of the anchor, is rove through the foremost sheave of the cat-head, through the inner sheave of the cat-block. 1864S. Ferguson Forging Anchor vi, A shapely one he is, and strong, as e'er from cat was cast. 1867Smyth Sailor's Wd.-bk. 173 When the cat is hooked and ‘cable enough’ veered and stoppered, the anchor hangs below the cat-head. 1880Boy's Own Bk. 315 Cat, a projecting piece of wood or iron to which sheets or halyards are made fast.
8. Short for cat-o'-nine-tails.
1788A. Falconbridge Afr. Slave Tr. 40 A cat (an instrument of correction, which consists of a handle or stem, made of a rope three inches and a half in circumference, and about eighteen inches in length, at one end of which are fastened nine branches, or tails, composed of log line, with three or more knots upon each branch). 1789Wolcott (P. Pindar) Subj. for Paint. Wks. 1812 II. 149 This Cat's a cousin-german to the Knout. 1824Order in Council in Ann. Reg. (1824) 64*/2 Any whip, cat, stick, or other such like instrument. 1846A. Fonblanque Life & Labours ii. (1874) 210 The Duke's professional prejudice makes him cling to the cat.
9. A double tripod with six legs, formed by three bars joined in the middle and so placed that it always rests on three legs, as a cat is said always to land on its feet.
1806Ann. Reg. 960 A new toast-stand, or an improvement on the articles called cats or dogs, upon which things are placed before the fire. 1826Scott in S. Gibson Remin. (1871) 17 A mahogany thing, which is called a cat, with a number of legs, so that turning which way it will it stands upright. 1847Mrs. Sherwood in Life vi. 88 There was an ebony cat standing before the fire, supporting a huge plate of toast and butter. 1884Pall Mall G. 24 July 9/1 There are also at least a couple of ‘cats’, stands for open fireplaces.
10. A term used in various games.
a. A small piece of wood tapering at each end, used in the game of tip-cat, etc.; it is hit at one end by the cat-stick, and made to spring from the ground, and then driven away by a side stroke.
1598Florio, Lippo, a trap or cat, such as children play at. a1627Middleton Wom. beware Wom. i. ii, Prithee, lay up my cat and cat-stick safe. a1652Brome New Acad. iv. i. Wks. 1873 II. 66 All my storehouse of tops, gigs, balls, cat and catsticks. 1801Strutt Sports and Past. 101 (N.) The cat is about six inches in length, and an inch and a half or two inches in diameter, and diminished from the middle to both ends, in the manner of a double cone.
b. The game itself; tip-cat.
1626in Windsor & Eton Gaz. (1886) 6 Mar. 4/5 Playing at Catt in the Parke medow. 1653J. Taylor (Water P.) Journ. Wales (1859) 26 The lawful and laudable games of trapp, catt, stool-ball, racket, etc. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. ii. iii. 101. 1885 J. Brown Bunyan 61 He was one Sunday in the midst of a game of cat.
†c. The cat-stick. Obs.
1636Divine Trag. lately Acted 23 Sundry youths playing at Catt on the Lords day, two of them fell out, and the one hitting the other under the eare with his catt, he therwith fell downe for dead.
d. The stick in the game of Cat-in-the-hole. (Jamieson.)
1721Kelly Sc. Prov. 325 (Jam.) Tine Cat, tine Game, an allusion to a play called Cat i' the Hole, and the English Kit-Cat. Spoken when men at law have lost their principal evidence.
e. In names of games: † Cat and trap, Cat i' the hole (Sc.). Also cat and dog 3.
1598Florio, Gatta orba, a kinde of Christmas game called blinde is the cat. 1611Cotgr., Martinet..the game called Cat and Trap. 1837–40Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 442 What do you say to a game at..odd and even, wild cat and 'coon, or somethin' or another? 1825–79Jamieson Dict., Cat in the Hole, a game played by boys.
11. a. ‘A mess of coarse meal, clay, etc., placed in dove-cotes, to allure strangers’ (Halliwell). More fully salt-cat.
1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. ix. §2 (1681) 177 A Salt-Cat..which makes the Pigeons much affect the place: and such that casually come there, usually remain where they find such good entertainment.
b. pl. The salt which crystallizes round the edge of the pan or beneath the holes in the bottom of the trough in which salt is put to drain. Cf. cat v. 5.
1886R. Holland Gloss. Chester, Cats, salt-making term. Masses of salt formed under a pan when it leaks. 1892Cornhill Mag. Sept. 265 The ‘cats’, or salt that has become encrusted round the edges of the pan, is sent to the pottery works for glazing pipes and pitchers.
III. Phrases.
12. to turn the cat in the pan:
†a. to reverse the order of things so dexterously as to make them appear the very opposite of what they really are; to turn a thing right about. Obs.[Origin unknown: the suggestion that cat was originally cate does not agree with the history of that word.] 1532Use Dice Play (1850) 18 These vile cheaters turned the cat in the pan, giving to divers vile, patching thefts, an honest & goodly title, calling it by the name of a law. c1536–40Pilgr. T. 692 in Thynne Animadv., Ther was a prouerbe I knew wan, callyd ‘turnyng the cate in the pane’. 1543Becon Invect. agst. Swearing Wks. (1843) 353 God saith, ‘Cry, cease not’, but they turn cat in the pan, and say, ‘Cease, cry not’. 1572Huloet (L.) A subtile turning the catte in the panne, or wresting of a false thing to some purpose. 1576Newton tr. Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 208 Turning the Cat in the Pan, full of Leiger-du-maine. 1619H. Hutton Follie's Anat. 31 I'l, with the proverbe, Turne the cat i' th' band.
b. To change one's position, change sides, from motives of interest, etc.
1622T. Stoughton Chr. Sacrif. vii. 91 How do they shrinke? yea, how fouly do they..turne cat in pan, and become themselves persecuters of other? 1675Crowne City Polit. ii. i, Come, Sirrah, you are a Villain, have turn'd Cat-in-pan, and are a Tory. a1720Song, Vicar of Bray, I turned the cat in pan once more, And so became a Whig, sir. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxv, ‘O, this precious Basil will turn cat in pan with any man’.
13. a. a cat may look at a king: there are certain things which an inferior may do in presence of a superior. b. care killed the cat: care will kill any one even though he had, like the proverbial cat, nine lives. c. enough to make a cat speak: said of something very extraordinary (frequently of good drink). d. to jerk, shoot, whip the cat: to vomit, especially from too much drink. e. to see (watch) which way the cat jumps: i.e. what direction events are taking. f. to fight like Kilkenny cats: to engage in a mutually destructive struggle. to bell the cat, to hang the bell about the cat's neck: see bell v. and n. to let the cat out of the bag: to disclose a guarded secret: see bag. to grin like a Cheshire cat (see N. & Q. 1852 V. 402). g. cat and monkey trick (cf. cat's-paw). h. like a cat on hot bricks: see hot a. 12 c. i. not a cat (in hell)'s chance: no chance whatever. j. to make a cat laugh: said of something excruciatingly funny. k. that cat won't jump (orig. U.S.): that suggestion is implausible or impracticable. l. the cat's pyjamas, cat's whiskers (slang, orig. U.S.): the acme of excellence. m. to look (feel) like something the cat has brought in: to appear, or to feel, exhausted or bedraggled.
a.1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 57 A cat maie looke on a king, ye know. 1590Greene Never too late (1600) 94 A Cat may looke at a King, and a swaines eye hath as high a reach as a Lords looke. 1730–6Bailey s.v., A Cat may look at a King. This is a saucy Proverb, generally made use of by pragmatical Persons.
b.1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 162 A woman hath nyne lyues like a cat. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 81 Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine liues. 1599― Much Ado v. i. 133 Though care kil'd a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care. 1682N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 332 Exiling fretting Care, that kills a Cat! 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. (1862) 331 He had, as they say, as many Lives as a Cat. 1886Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 322/2 That Arab cat-o'-nine-lives, Osman Digna.
c. [1600Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 86 Here is that which will giue language to you cat.] 1719D'Urfey Pills III. 272 Old Liquor able to make a Cat speak. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. xii, It's enough to make a Tom cat speak French grammar, only to see how she tosses her head.
d.1609R. Armin Maids of More-cl. (1880) 70 Ile baste their bellies and their lippes till we haue ierk't the cat with our three whippes. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Brood Cormor. Wks. iii. 5/1 You may not say hee's drunke..For though he be as drunke as any rat He hath but catcht a fox, or whipt the Cat. 1830Marryat King's Own xxxii, I'm cursedly inclined to shoot the cat.
e.1827Scott in Croker Pap. (1884) I. xi. 319 Had I time, I believe I would come to London merely to see how the cat jumped. 1863Kingsley Water Bab. 289 He..understood so well which side his bread was buttered, and which way the cat jumped. 1885Pall Mall G. 19 Mar. 1/2 The Opposition is as much devoted to the cult of the jumping cat as are the Liberals.
f.1770–1819Wolcott (P. Pindar) 91 (D.) Lo! like a Cheshire cat our court will grin. 1855Thackeray Newcomes xxiv. (D.), Mr. Newcome says..‘That woman grins like a Cheshire cat’.
g.1856Olmsted Slave States 494 So successfully was this cat-and-monkey trick performed.
i.1796Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), No more chance than a cat in hell without claws; said of one who enters into a dispute or quarrel with one greatly above his match. 1902C. J. C. Hyne Mr. Horrocks, Purser 100 Crutches by themselves wouldn't have stood a cat's chance. 1927Daily Express 13 Dec. 16/6 There did not seem a cat's chance for Oxford on comparative form. 1958M. Procter Man in Ambush ii. 19 He hasn't a cat-in-hell chance. 1962‘H. Howard’ Double Finesse xvi. 168 You haven't a cat-in-hell's chance of getting away. 1966Guardian 22 June 3/6 One seaman said the union had not ‘a cat in hell's chance’ of beating the Government as well as the shipowners.
j. [c1598W. Haughton Englishm. for my Money (1616) E 4, Oh maister Mouse,..it would make any Mouse, Ratte, Catte, or Dogge, laugh to thinke, what sport we shall have.] 1838J. R. Planché Puss in Boots 24 Allow us just applause to win Enough to make a cat laugh. 1907W. W. Jacobs Short Cruises 230 It would ha' made a cat laugh. 1929J. B. Priestley Good Compan. iii. iv. 551 Make a cat laugh, the way she takes people off.
k.1838Haliburton Clockmaker xvi. 242 Them Yankee villains would break up our laws, language, and customs; that cat wouldn't jump at all, would it? 1906Galsworthy Man of Property iii. ix. 372 ‘They talk of suicide here,’ he said at last. ‘That cat won't jump.’ 1934F. W. Crofts 12.30 from Croydon xiii. 178 They know I was hard up...No, Charles, that cat won't jump. 1965‘S. Troy’ No More a-Roving ii. 57 If you're telling me she fell in, just like that—oh no! That cat won't jump.
l.1923W. A. Roberts in Saucy Stories 1 Mar. 121/1 It would have landed us in jail, if we had published it... But as literature, it was the cat's whiskers. 1924Wodehouse Leave it to Psmith ix. 181 ‘Well, if this ain't the cat's whiskers!’ said Miss Peavey. 1925S. Lewis M. Arrowsmith xxxix. 460 This kid used to think Pa Gottlieb was the cat's pyjamas. 1930Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Sept. 693/2 We were the absolute and utter cat's pyjamas. 1958Times 15 Aug. 9/4 Lord Montgomery..holds that to label anything the ‘cat's whiskers’ is to confer on it the highest honour.
m.1928R. Knox Footsteps at Lock viii. 79 Bredon felt, in an expressive modern phrase, like something the cat had brought in. 1940R. Postgate Verdict of Twelve ii. ii. 112 Rosalie realized that for the family she was something the cat brought in. 1967A. Wilson No Laughing Matter iii. 170 The sweet toothy smile froze to a ‘what's that the cat's brought in’ disdain.
14. to draw through the water with a cat, also to whip the cat: to practise a practical joke, thus described by Grose:
‘A trick often practised on ignorant country fellows, by laying a wager with them that they may be pulled through a pond by a cat; the bet being made, a rope is fastened round the waist of the person to be catted, and the end thrown across the pond, to which the cat is also fastened by a pack-thread, and three or four sturdy fellows are appointed to lead and whip the cat; these on a signal given, seize the end of the cord, and pretending to whip the cat, haul the astonished booby through the water.’
1614B. Jonson Barthol. Fair i. iv. (N.), I'll be drawn with a good gib cat through the great pond at home. 1682in Lond. Gaz. No. 1725/3 We hope, sir, that this Nation will be too Wise, to be drawn twice through the same Water by the very same Cat. 1690B. E. Dict. Canting Crew, Catting, drawing a Fellow through a Pond with a Cat. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v. Cat-whipping. 1847 Halliwell s.v. Whip-the-Cat. 1876 Times 13 Aug., Drawing a cat through the Lea [Trial for manslaughter at Central Criminal Court 10 Aug. 1876]. 1888N. & Q. Ser. vii. V. 310.
15. In many other proverbs and phrases.
c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 65 It is ane olde Dog..that thou begyles, Thou weines to draw the stra before the Cat. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 66 Wysdome is greate if the cat neuer touched mylke. a1535More Wks. 241 (R.) It was alway that y⊇ cat winked whan her eye was oute. 1539Taverner Erasm. Prov. 47 The catte wyll fyshe eate, but she wyl not her feete wette. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 10 When all candels be out, all cats be grey. 1577Holinshed Chron. II. 731 The Englishmen in those daies were cats not to be caught without mittens. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 109 If the Cat will after kinde, so be sure will Rosalinde. 1651Culpepper Astrol. Judgem. Dis. (1658) 114 The disease will stay in one state as long as a Cat is tyed to a Pudding. 1665Pepys Diary 14 Aug., The king shall not be able to whip a cat but I mean to be at the tayle of it. 1708Motteux Rabelais v. vii, As analogous as Chalk and Cheese, or a Cat and a Cartwheel! 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. II. 8 June, At London, I am pent up in frowzy lodgings, where there is not room enough to swing a cat. 1887Pall Mall G. 17 Oct. 2/2 They play a cat-and-mouse game with him for some time.
IV. attrib. and Comb.
16. attrib. Of or pertaining to cats; cat-like. (Often hyphened, as in next.)
1500–20Dunbar Of Ane Blake-moir 8 Quhon hir schort catt noiss vp skippis. 1720Stow's Surv. (ed. Strype 1754) I. i. xvi. 84/1 One lion, one lioness, one leopard, and two cat Lions in the said Tower. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 249 Animals of the cat kind. 1839–47Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. III. 302/1 In the..cat-tribe, there is a cæcum, though it is simple and short. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. viii, Mouldy little plantation or cat-preserve. 1881Mivart Cat 366 We cannot of course, without becoming cats, perfectly understand the cat-mind.
17. General comb.:
a. attributive, as cat-bolt, cat-food, cat-land, cat-scratch, cat-show, cat-speech;
b. objective, as cat-catcher, cat-killer;
c. parasynthetic, as cat-eyed, cat-faced, cat-headed adjs.; also cat-wise adv.
1592G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 8 Instead of thunderboltes shooteth nothing but dogboltes or *catboltes.
1799Southey Nondescr. v, Rare music! I would rather hear *cat-courtship Under my bed-room window in the night.
1613Rowlands Four Knaves (1843) 42 Night-Raven, and such *Cat-eyed Fowle. a1700Dryden Lucretius iv. (R.) If cat-ey'd, then a Pallas is their love.
1816‘Quiz’ Grand Master viii. 212 Some *cat-fac'd General.
1907Yesterday's shopping (1969) 58 *Cat food, doz. packets, 0/9. 1966A. Prior Operators vii. 87 The food cupboard..contained at least three dozen tins of cat food.
1905E. F. Benson Image in Sand i, Close to them stood the great *cat-headed statue. 1905Daily Chron. 4 Sept. 3/1 The power was divinised in the cat-headed Pasht.
1880Atlantic Monthly June 737 It is merely a *cat-scratch.
1883E. M. Bacon Dict. Boston, Mass. 304 *Cat-shows, dog-shows.
1789Wolcott (P. Pindar) Subj. for Paint. Wks. 1812 II. 187 As if with knowledge of *Cat-speech endued.
a1845Hood Irish Schoolm. xvi. (1871) 191 Climbeth, *catwise, on some London roof.
18. Special comb.: cat-and-clay (Sc.), straw and clay worked together into pretty large rolls and laid between the wooden posts in constructing mud-walls; Cat-and-mouse Act, nickname for the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-health) Act of 1913 to enable hunger-strikers to be released temporarily; used chiefly attrib. (now without capital initials) of (esp. official) action taken (repeatedly or for a prolonged period) against a weaker party; cat-back Naut. (see cat-rope); cat-beam (Naut.), the beak-head beam, the broadest beam in a ship (see beak-head 3 and cat-head n. 1); cat-bear, the red bear-cat or lesser panda; cat-blash (dial.) = cat-lap; cat-block (Naut.), a two- or three-fold block forming part of the cat-tackle; cat-brain (dial.), a soil consisting of rough clay mixed with stones; cat-brier, an American name for Smilax (Treas. Bot.); cat-burglar, a burglar who enters by extraordinarily skilful feats of climbing; hence cat-burgling vbl. n.; cat's-carriage (Sc.), the game of king's-cushion; cat-castle (see cat n.1 6 and quot. 1907); cat chain (see quot.); cat-chop, a plant, Mesembryanthemum felinum; cat-collops (dial.), cat's-meat; cat-dirt, a kind of clay; cat-door, a small door, usually swinging, which can be opened by a cat for its own ingress and egress; cat-face (U.S.), a mark in lumber-wood (see quot.); cat-fall (Naut.), in the cat-tackle, the rope between the cat-block and the sheaves in the cat-head; cat-footed a., (a) stealthy in movement; (b) (see quot. 1883); hence cat-footedness, surefootedness; cat-, cat's-gold (Ger. katzengold, Sw. kattguld), a yellowish variety of mica (cf. cat-silver); † cat-harrow (Sc.), a nursery game, played by pulling crossing loops of thread, cat-saw; cat-haw (dial.), the fruit of the hawthorn; cat-heather, the name given to various kinds of heather in Scotland (Jamieson, 1825); see Sc. Nat. Dict. s.v. Cat. n.1 I. 2; cat-hook (Naut.), the hook on the cat-block by which it is connected with the anchor when the latter is to be catted; cat-house, (a) (see 6 above); (b) a house for cats; (c) slang, a brothel; cat-ice, cat's ice, thin ice of a milky white appearance in shallow places, from under which the water has receded; cat-in-clover, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus; cat-keys, cat's-keys, cats and keys (dial.), the fruit of the ash-tree, culver-keys; cat-ladder, a kind of ladder used on the sloping roofs of houses; † cat-leap (see quot.); also the distance a cat leaps; cat-lick, colloq. expression for a perfunctory manner of washing; also as vb.; cat-mallison (see quots.); cat('s)-nap, a short nap while sitting; hence as v. intr., to take a cat-nap; cat-owl, a North American species of owl; † cat-pipe, a cat-call (see cat-call 1); cat-purchase (Naut.) = cat-tackle; cat-rope (Naut.), † (a) = cat-fall; (b) ‘a line for hauling the cat-hook about; also cat-back-rope’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.); cat-salt, ‘a beautifully granulated kind of common salt..formed out of the bittern or leach brine’ (Chambers Cycl. Supp.); cat-saw = cat-harrow; cat-scaup, -scalp (dial.), an ironstone nodule (see cat-head n. 2); cat-sleep = cat-nap; † cat-sloe, the Wild Sloe; cat-squirrel, (a) the common squirrel (dial.); (b) the grey American squirrel; cat-steps, (a) ‘the projections of the stones in the slanting part of a gable’ (Jamieson), crow-steps; (b) U.S. Geol. (see quot.); cat-stopper (Naut.), the cat-head stopper (see cat-head n. 1); † cat-succory, the Wild Succory; cat-suit, an all-in-one garment reaching from neck to feet, generally tight-fitting, and with trouser legs; cat-tackle (Naut.), the tackle to raise the anchor to the cat-head (see cat-head n. 1); cat-thyme, a species of Teucrium, which causes sneezing; cat-trail (dial.), the Great Valerian, or its root, used to attract cats; cat-tree, -wood, the Spindle-tree; cat-whin (dial.), a name of various plants as Dog-rose, Burnet-rose, etc.; cat('s) whisker, a fine adjustable copper or gold wire in a crystal wireless receiver or in certain types of electronic circuit (see also sense 13 l); † cat-wort = catmint; † cat-wralling: see caterwauling. Also cat and dog, cat-call, etc.
1756M. Calderwood Jrnl. (1884) 18 [The cottage] was built of timber stoops, and what we call *cat and clay walls. 1833Fraser's Mag. VIII. 410 The cat-and-clay hovels..had given place to neat..cottages.
1913Punch 23 July 81/1 Plural Residence, which will still be permitted after abolition of Plural Voting, is being encouraged by the *Cat-and-Mouse Act. 1926G. B. Shaw Transl. & Tomfooleries 225 The Cat and Mouse principle..is a part of the law of England. 1937F. P. Crozier Men I Killed viii. 156 The Absolutists [conscientious objectors] went to jail, again and again and again, as men ‘deemed to have been enlisted’... During this cat-and-mouse performance every conceivable kind of inducement, temptation, and privation were used by the Government..in order to make the objectors surrender. 1949Koestler Promise & Fulf. ii. 18 The Administration played a curious cat-and-mouse game with the Jewish self-defence organization. 1965G. McInnes Road to Gundagai ii. 28 He was..prepared to enjoy a game of cat-and-mouse with the superior little English boy.
1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 91 *Cat-backs..are led through leading blocks.
c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 95 *Cat-Beam, or Beak-Head Beam.
1888W. T. Blanford Mammalia 190 Aelurus fulgens. The red *Cat-bear..South-eastern Himalayas..lives in holes of trees, or perhaps amongst rocks. 1931H. L. Myers Prince Jali vi. 61 His parents had given him a pair of cat-bears, charming creatures that were exceedingly tame.
1877E. Peacock N-W. Linc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) s.v., You call this tea maybe, I call it sore *cat-blash.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) F iij, The *Cat-block is employed to draw the anchor up to the cat-head. 1840R. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii. 68 The cat-block being as much as a man could lift.
1679Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 345 The *Cat-brain, i.e. a sort of barren clay and stone mixt. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Cat-brain, a rough clayey kind of soil full of stone.
1875Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims iv. 117 A clump of alders, with *cat-briers.
1907Daily Chron. 18 Apr. 1/7 Owing to his skill in climbing he was known as ‘the *cat burglar’. 1927Daily Express 24 Mar. 2/6 A ‘cat’ burglar broke into the house..by climbing a stackpipe. 1958D. Emmet Function, Purpose & Powers ix. 253 What about a man seized with an irresistible urge for cat-burgling.
1861Chambers's Encycl. II. 668/1 Cat, or *cat-castle, in the military engineering of the middle ages, was a kind of movable tower to cover the sappers as they advanced to a besieged place. 1907Collingwood in Trans. Cumbld. & Westmld. Archæol. Soc. (1908) VIII. 100 ‘Catcastle’ in local [Kendal] dialect is the second figure in the game of Cat's-cradle.
1883Man. Seamanship Boys' Training Ships 195 Q. What is a *cat chain? A. A chain which is rove through the cat block, and shackled on to the upper end of ground chain to bring the anchor to cat head.
1855Whitby Gloss., *Catcollop, cat's meat, more particularly the inmeats of animals.
1747Hooson Miner's Dict. E ij, *Catdirt-Clay [is] a kind of Clay that is short in cutting, and mixed with joynts that are whiter than the Clay itself. 1794Sullivan View Nat. II. 153 Cat-dirt, channel, &c. found in Derbyshire, are all lava.
1959M. Summerton Small Wilderness i. 16 Bella jumped down, and went through her private *cat-door.
1879Lumberman's Gaz. 3 Dec., Logs that have *cat faces or burnt places..the cat face or knots.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) L iv, A rope called the *cat-fall.. communicates with the cat block. 1849R. Dana Bef. Mast xxviii. 97 All hands tallied on to the cat-fall. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 175 The cat-fall..is rove through a sheave in the cathead.
1598E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 52 *Cat-footed for slie pace, and without sound. 1847Tennyson Princ. i. 103, I stole..Cat-footed thro' the town. 1883G. Stables Our Friend the Dog vii. 59 Cat-footed—Having the toes well knuckled up, making the foot short and round. 1929W. J. Locke Jorico 94 He had the peculiar, sure cat-footedness of those who follow the sea.
1762tr. Busching's Syst. Geog. I. 42 *Cats-gold, which is semi-transparent. 1776Seiferth Gellert's Metal. Chym. 10 Cat-gold..So the glimmer is called by the Germans, when it has the colour of gold.
1529Lyndesay Complaynt 308 Thay gan to draw at the *cat harrow. 1721Kelly Sc. Prov. 329 (Jam.) They draw the Cat Harrow; that is, they thwart one another.
1864T. Guthrie Let. 9 July in Autobiogr. (1877) xii. 645 The hum of bees who are all on the qui vive, as the heather (the ‘*cat-heather’ as it is called) is now coming out. 1886Britten & Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-Names 92 Cat-heather, more than one kind of heath seems to be so called in Scotland..(Calluna vulgaris),..Erica cinerea,..or possibly E. Tetralix. 1922D. H. Lawrence England, my England 33 Bits of cat-heather were coming pink in tufts.
1605Camden Rem. (1657) 206 This *cat-house answerable to the cattus mentioned by Vegetius, was used in the siege of Bedford castle in the time of King Henry the third. 1840L. Ritchie Windsor Cast. 215 The gattus or cat house, the belfry and sow..were covered machines, used to protect soldiers in their attacks upon the gates or walls. 1895C. J. Cornish Life at Zoo 236 It is obvious that so active and beautiful an animal could not be seen with advantage..in the cramped little cages of the present Cat House. 1931‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 202 Cat house, a brothel. 1934T. Wilder Heaven's My Destination vi. 113 On Sunday you raped a whole cat-house. 1935‘G. Orwell’ Clergyman's Daughter ii. 113 He's took her abroad an' sold her to one o'dem flash cat-houses in Parrus. 1968D. Francis Forfeit x. 120 He walked straight out of the Cat House.
1884Daily News 10 Nov. 5/7 The worst that would happen to him would be to break through the *cat ice in shallows.
1695W. Westmacott Script. Herb. 189 The Sycomore with us..leaves an imperfect Fruit, called Pods, or *Cat-keys.
1883Standard 23 Feb. 3/6 A *cat ladder, twelve feet in length [was] placed on the roof.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Chat, Sault du chat, the *cat-leape; a certaine tricke done by Tumblers, and vaulters upon a table set aslope against a wall.
[c1450Jacob's Well 187/25 Þe feend seyde: ‘come hedyr, freend, þou art catlycked & qwyt of þi synnes in þi schryfte.’] 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xi, Th' men ne'er know whether that floor's cleaned or *cat-licked. 1892Leeds Merc. Suppl. 12 Mar. (E.D.D.), That's nobbut gien thisen a cat⁓lick asteead ov a reight wesh. 1898Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Cat sb.1, Yer may ev catlicked the flooer; yer hevn't weshed it. 1906W. De Morgan Joseph Vance vii. 65 Anne..soaped me with a vigour far beyond any experience of washing I had had up to that date. My method had been Cat-licking, she said. 1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow 11. 61 Let's finish wiping your face—it'll pass wi' a cat-lick. a1953Dylan Thomas Quite early one Morning (1954) 30 They catlicked their hands and faces, but never forgot to run the water loud and long as though they washed like colliers.
1583Will of Isab. Walker, Kendal (Somerset Ho.) One doughe trough with one thinge to putt chease in, alijs *Cattmaddeson. 1781J. Hutton Tour to Caves Gloss. (E.D.S.) Catmallisons, the cupboards round the chimneys in the north, where they preserve their dried beef and provisions.
1823J. F. Cooper Pioneers xxxii, I just closed my eyes in order to think the better with myself... It was only some such matter as a *cat's nap. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. iv. 54 Catching cat-naps as I could in the day..but carefully waking every hour. 1885N.Y. Weekly Sun 13 May 2/7 Catnaps were caught in the chairs as the players sat. 1938Amer. Speech XIII. 182/2 To cat-nap. 1958Times 19 May 3/7 Mr. Hugh Bentley, who cat-naps every afternoon between 3 and 3.30.
1854Thoreau Walden xv. (1886) 271 An unmistakable *cat-owl..with the most harsh and tremendous voice..responded.
1694R. L'Estrange Fables clxxvi. (1714) 190 Put them [i.e. Songsters] out of their Road once, and they are Meer *Cat-Pipes and Dunces.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vi. 28 The *Cat rope is to hale vp the Cat. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Navy of Landsh. Wks. i. 81/1.
1723Brown in Phil. Trans. XXXII. 354 The Liquor..will crystalize to the Sticks, something like Sugar-candy, but in much larger Shoots; and this they call *Cat-Salt, or Salt-Cats. 1875Ure Dict. Arts III. 748 Lymington cat-salt.
1728Woodward Fossils (J.) The nodules..found in the rocks near Whitehaven in Cumberland, where they call them *catscaups.
1837Miss Sedgwick Live & let L. (1876) 63 Roused from her *cat-sleep by the unwonted noise.
1578Lyte Dodoens vi. xlvii. 721 The fruite..growing upon the blacke thorne, is called *Catte Slose, and Snagges. 1587M. Grove Pelops & Hipp. (1878) 124 Change..For grapes most pure his cat sloes sower frute.
1826J. D. Godman Amer. Nat. Hist. II. 129 The *Cat-Squirrel, Sciurus Cinereus. 1834McMurtrie tr. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 80 The Cat Squirrel (Sciurus cinereus, Lin.) of America is cinerous above, white beneath. 1882Sc. Gossip July 161 The following is a list of names now or lately in use in the vicinity of Whitby..‘Catswerril’ squirrel. 1943W. J. Hamilton Mammals East. U.S. 225 Gray Squirrel. Cat Squirrel. Sciurus carolinensis.
1833Fraser's Mag. VIII. 399 He sought refuge on the top of his master's house, and, sidling up the *cat-steps, disappeared with his prize. 1939A. K. Lobeck Geomorphol. iii. 93 Small, backward-tilted terraces due to slumping, features which are sometimes called catsteps.
1715Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXIX. 231 Blew *Cat-Succory.
1960Guardian 16 Nov. 5/3 Miss Odell wears a ‘*cat-suit’ which is sleeveless, low-cut, tight round the shanks and everywhere else. 1970Oxf. Mail 27 Jan. 1/9 Courreges' best inspiration for ready-to-wear were his flare-legged cat suits in P.V.C. or cotton.
1840R. Dana Bef. Mast xv. 40 The *cat-tackle-fall was strung along.
1915A. F. Collins Bk. of Wireless 205 Adjust the wire until the pointed end presses on the crystal and you will have what is called a *cat-whisker detector. 1923Daily Mail 28 June 13 A crystal called ‘Radiocite’..used with a ‘cats-whisker’ contact, and the pressure necessary is extremely light. 1948Electronic Engin. XX. 354 The catswhiskers can be mounted in slots at the top of the copper base pins, using a dummy crystal..to align the tips of the wires. 1949Ibid. XXI. 448 Two IN34's will be required to provide the two cats-whiskers, leaving a spare crystal.
a1450Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 27 Calamentum magis, *catwort. Ibid. 125 Nepta, catwort.
19. Comb. with cat's:
a. † cat's-pellet, † cat's-play, ? tip-cat or some other game with a cat (see 10 above); cat's-purr, a thrill felt over the region of the heart in certain heart-diseases; cat's-tooth (see quot.). Also cat's-cradle, -eye, -hair, -meat, -paw, etc.
1609Manchester Crt. Leet Rec. (1886) I. 248 A game or games vsed in the towne of Manchestr called giddye guddye or *catts pallett. 1648Brit. Bellman in Harl. Misc. VII. 625 (D.) Who beats the boys from cat's-pellet and stool-ball?
1668R. L'Estrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 179 They had been either at *Cats-play, or Cuffs.
1776Woulfe in Phil. Trans. LXVI. 620 *Cat's tooth, white lead ore, from Ireland.
b. esp. in plant-names: cat's-claw, (a) Common Kidney-Vetch, Anthyllis vulneraria; (b) = cat-in-clover (18); cat's-ear, (a) the book-name of the genus Hypochæris; (b) Mountain Everlasting, Antennaria dioica; † cat's-grass; cat's-milk, a species of spurge, Sun-spurge, Euphorbia helioscopia: † cat's-spear, Reed-mace, Typha latifolia. Also cat's-eye, -foot, -tail, etc.
1756P. Browne Jamaica 294 *Cat's claws. This little plant is frequent about Old Harbour.
1848C. A. Johns Week Lizard 310 Hippochæris maculata, Spotted *Cat's-ear.
c1450Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 38 Centinodium, swyne⁓grece uel *cattesgres.
1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 5 Sun Spurge..Country people call it..*Cat's milk..it is a troublesome weed.
▸ cat flap n. a small hinged flap set into an outer door, wall, etc., which from either side may be pushed open by a cat, allowing it to enter or leave a building; = cat-door n. at Compounds 3.
1957A. Thirkell Double Affair ii. 43 Mr. Choyce had constructed for him, down in the skirting board of the study, a *Cat-Flap which he could push open from the outside and so enter the house without disturbing anyone. 1967J. Montgomery World of Cats 67 (caption) This cat flap shows the principle of the cat door. 1988R. Rendell Master of Moor (BNC) 74 Peach alone was in the house, having let himself in through the cat flap... He was sitting on one of the kitchen counters, paws folded, tail tucked up, gazing with stately patience at the larger door. 1997Mirror (Nexis) 17 July 22 A baby who sparked a kidnap alert is thought to have disappeared from his home after squeezing through a cat-flap.
▸ cat litter n. an absorbent material, typically in the form of coarse grains of dried clay, used in an indoor box to absorb the urine and faeces of a domestic cat or other pet.
1956Walla Walla (Washington) Union-Bull. 23 Apr. 14 (advt.) In our pet supply dept. you will find..dog and *cat litter. 1999C. Mendelson Home Comforts lv. 644/2 Cat feces can be flushed down the toilet, but most cat litter cannot; it will swell up and clog your pipes.
▸ cat-sit v. orig. U.S. (intr.) to take care of a cat in the absence of its owner, usually at the owner's home.
1955Washington Post 13 Feb. e8/6 More than 500 odd jobs, such as lawn mowing, gardening,..and one ‘*cat sitting’ were found for youngsters. 1979Evening Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) 23 Mar. 25/1 (advt.) Wanted—someone to cat-sit. 1998Independent (Nexis) 16 Feb. 13 He's cat-sitting while she's in New York.
▸ cat sitter n. orig. U.S. a person who takes care of a cat in the absence of its owner.
1948Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 17 Nov. 5/2 (heading) *Cat sitter... Luther and Lovejoy are..cats owned by a woman..who wanted them visited and fed. 1993Cat World July 9/2 Many people may have visions of returning home to huge telephone and gas bills as well as an empty fridge, as the cat sitter has made themselves at home.
▸ cat-sitting n. orig. U.S. the action or an instance of taking care of a cat in the absence of its owner; freq. attrib.
1959Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, Calif.) 15 June 7/1 As far as is known, this is the only organized *cat sitting effort in the world. 1997Arizona Republic (Nexis) 11 Oct. ev15 Two friends..recently took on cat-sitting duties and fell in love with the feline.
▪ II. † cat, n.2 Obs. exc. in Comb.
Also catt.
[Originally, the same word as prec.; Du Cange has catta ‘navis species’, also gatus of date c 1175; OF. chaz, chat, catz (see Jal. and Godef.); but the relation between these and the Eng. word, and the reason of the name, do not appear.]
A name given to a vessel formerly used in the coal and timber trade on the north-east coast of England; see Falconer's description (quot. 1769).
(The name is unknown to the oldest of the Elder Brethren of Trinity House, Newcastle (aged 82), and to the oldest North Sea pilots there. One of the latter, however, remembers to have heard as a boy the joke ‘Do you know when the mouse caught the cat?’ (the Mouse being a sand-bank in the Thames); and several remember the expression cat-built in the early part of the century. The last ‘cat-built’ ship is said to have been lost more than 30 years ago. N.E.D.)
1699in Dict. Nat. Biogr. VIII. 305/1, I was made a lieutenant by the lords of the admiralty for boarding a cat that was laden with masts. 1747J. Gambier to Secretary Adm'lty 4 Dec. (MS.) Drove a new catt of near 500 tons on the Barrough Sand. 1759Adm. Saunders in Naval Chron. XIII. 439 Two Cats, armed and loaded with provisions. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Cat, a ship employed in the Coal trade, formed from the Norwegian model. It is distinguished by a narrow stern, projecting quarters, a deep waist, and by having no..figure[head]. These vessels are generally built remarkably strong, and carry from four to six hundred tons. Chatte, a small two-masted vessel, formed like a cat or Norwegian pink. 1794Rigging & Seamanship I. 236 Cat, a vessel, used by the Northern Nations of Europe, with three masts and a bow⁓sprit, rigged similar to an English ship; having, however, pole-masts and no top-gallant sails. c1825J. Dugdale New Brit. Trav. iv. 303 Certain vessels, called Ipswich Cats of large tonnage..formerly employed in the coal-trade here.
Hence (perh.) cat-boat, a kind of sailing-boat having the mast placed very forward and rigged with one sail; cat-rig, a rig of one fore-and-aft mainsail, used for pleasure-boats in smooth water; so cat-rigged adj.; cat-built (see above).
1867F. H. Ludlow Little Bro. 96 The cat-rig boat..carries a main-sail only and is a favourite on the Shrewsbury river. 1883Harper's Mag. Aug. 444/2 Victories of which cat⁓boats might be ashamed. 1885Sat. Rev. 3 Jan. 11/1 Open boats of one jib and mainsail and cat varieties. 1887Daily Tel. 10 Sept. 2/5 A couple of trim-looking catboats..were dropped astern at a great rate..The catboatman is ambitious.
▪ III. cat, n.3
var. kat.
1877Encycl. Brit. VI. 110/2 In Arabia the beverage [sc. coffee]..only supplanted a preparation from the leaves of the cat, Celastrus edulis. 1904U.S. Consular Rep. No. 285. 549 The cat is a plant containing a medicinal principle which acts as a tonic upon the muscles of the heart. 1934Dylan Thomas Let. 15 Apr. (1966) 103 If I..could see them as a Yucatan people, call them to a cat-drinking ceremony.
▪ IV. cat, n.4
Colloq. abbrev. of catalytic a., in cat cracker, cat cracking, etc. (cf. catalytic a.).
1943Fortune Sept. 50/1 ‘Cat cracker’ is the oil industry's nickname for the new catalytic cracking processes now producing high-octane gas. 1952Economist 6 Sept. 581/1 (heading) Premium Petrol and Cat Crackers. 1957New Scientist 18 July 36/2 ‘Cat-cracking’..show[s] the power of catalysis in large-scale chemical industry.
Add:2. colloq. A catalytic converter.
1988Performance Car July 15/2 The VAG importers are deciding when, rather than if, the first ‘cat’ car will join their UK range. 1989Ibid. May 24/2 In six months time, I have to work in Yugoslavia for five months and they do not have unleaded fuel. If I remove the cat, could I use leaded petrol or will it damage the engine? 1990Autocar & Motor 19 Sept. 45/3 Ferrari continues to build the 348 in both cat and non-cat versions, the UK being one of the last markets to get the ‘dirty’ engine. 1991Internat. H&E Spring Q. 70/3 Vauxhall have announced that they are to progressively fit ‘cats’ to all of their cars from now on.
▪ V. cat, v.|kæt|
[f. cat n.1]
1. Naut.
a. trans. To raise (the anchor) from the surface of the water to the cat-head. Also absol.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) To cat the Anchor, is to hook a tackle called the cat to it's ring, and thereby pull it up close to the cat-head. 1833M. Scott Tom Cringle ii. (1859) 80 Lend a hand to cat the anchor. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 203 The cable..will..clear itself in catting. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. iii, They had catted, and were fishing the anchor forwards.
b. to cat and fish: to raise the anchor to the cat-head and secure it to the ship's side.
1808Regul. Service at Sea v. iv. §25 Never..to give her head-way untill the anchors are catted and fished. 1881W. C. Russell Sailor's Sweeth. I. iii. 59 Everything was now snug forward, the anchor catted and fished, and the decks clear.
2. To ‘draw through a water with a cat’: see cat n. 14.
3. To flog with the cat-o'-nine-tails.
1865Spectator 18 Nov. 1271/1 Thirty of them were lashed to a gun, and catted with fifty lashes each.
4. dial. and colloq. To vomit. See to shoot the cat (cat n.1 13 d).
5. intr. To be deposited in the manner of salt, etc., round objects, in crevices, or the like. (Cf. cat n.1 11 b.)
a1909Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VII. 901 (Cent. Dict. Suppl.), The material which cats here is in a state not capable of ready absorption, and must act locally.
Hence ˈcatted ppl. a.; ˈcatting vbl. n. |