1824 E. Mack (title) The cat-fight; a mock heroic poem.

1842 Green Bay (Wisconsin Territory) Republican 27 Aug. 1/5 The fire flew up like..fur in a cat fight.

1881 Amer. Naturalist 15 140 It is an abomination in his ears to have them pierced by the ‘discordant noises’ of a cat fight.

1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island xvi. 163 Cat-fights in the orchard o'nights are bad enough. But cat-fights here in the living room are unthinkable.

1965 Valley News (Van Nuys, Calif.) (West Valley ed.) 7 Jan. 10 a/2 A cat fight on our roof caused me to rush out to call our beautiful white cat, Mickey.

1993 Harrowsmith June 18/2 Even when they steer clear of roadway dangers, pets are still prey to the odd tumble down an embankment or sharp objects or—as any good cat fight makes screechingly clear—each other.

1854 B. G. Ferris Utah & Mormons xviii. 308 The object is to keep the women and babies, as much as possible, apart, and prevent those terrible cat-fights which sometimes occur.

1888 Atlanta Constit. 30 May 4/2 The republican brethren are making strenuous efforts to put an end to the cat fights that have been going on in the party since the defeat of Grant at Chicago.

1931 R. A. Tsnaoff Nature of Evil xi. 289 History is the recital of wars, the peaceful years are but pauses between the cat-fights.

1964 Times 15 Aug. 10/5 Act I especially seemed heavily overproduced, with (for example) the courtesy duet between Susanna and Marcelina becoming all but a cat-fight.

1986 J. Burchill Sex & Sensibility (1992) 59 The noble thespian lesbian tradition of the celluloid catfight, from early James Bond films to late Duran Duran videos.

2003 M. McCafferty Second Helpings 325 I bitch-slapped her across the face, thus starting the best chick-on-chick brawl since the infamous Bridget/Manda/Sara cheerleader catfight of '00?

1977 Herald-Times-Reporter (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) 28 Mar. 11/5 While everyone else has been cat-fighting trying to keep their existing privileges and get new ones, the CUs have come up with a positive program to serve their members.

1991 M. Mackie Gender Relations Canada x. 272/2 Passionately held theoretical positions have served to divide women's energies and to reinforce men's views of women feuding (‘cat-fighting’) among themselves.

1998 NUVO (Indianapolis) 14 May 20/2 Contrary to popular belief, girls don't always catfight—so be ready for those hooks and uppercuts.

2004 Boston Herald (Nexis) 9 Apr. 16 The gals cat-fought constantly before being shown the door.