| 单词 | a cat in the meal |
| 释义 | > as lemmasa cat in the meal U.S. colloquial. a cat in the meal-tub (also a cat in the meal): a hidden danger; a cause for suspicion, a concealed motive. Now rare. [With allusion to a fable in which a cat hides in a container of meal in order to catch rats, popularized by N. Webster Elem. Spelling Bk. (1783) 143.] ΚΠ 1830 N.Y. Spectator 9 Mar. He wishes to make us believe there is ‘a cat in the meal’. 1833 N.Y. Spectator 1 Mar. Mr. Hoffman was afraid that there was a cat in the meal-tub, and insisted upon hearing a part of the report read. 1856 J. P. Hambleton Biogr. Sketch H. A. Wise 191 There was a certain Convention which assembled not very long ago at Staunton, where there was also a cat in the meal tub. 1873 J. W. Bear Life & Trav. 234 I think that I can see a cat in the meal tub and therefore think that I had better stay out. 1914 Atlantic Monthly July 108/2 If it [sc. a committee] fails to discover any motive but one of public spirit, it still assumes that there is a cat in the meal. 1947 M. Sandoz Tom-walker i. ii. 34 The real cat in the meal tub was the marital situation. < as lemmas |
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