Adjacent Words

Cat definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CAT, n.
1. A name applied to certain species of carnivorous quadrupeds, of the genus Felis. The domestic cat needs no description. It is a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful. It is kept in houses, chiefly for the purpose of catching rats and mice. The wild cat is much larger than the domestic cat. It is a strong, ferocious animal, living in the forest, and very destructive to poultry and lambs.
The wild cat of Europe is of the same species with the domestic cat; the catamount, of N. America, is much larger and a distinct species.
2. A ship formed on the Norwegian model, having a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist. It is strong built, from four to six hundred tons burthen, and employed in the coal trade.
3. A strong tackle or combination of pulleys, to hook and draw an anchor perpendicularly up to the cat-head of a ship.
4. A double tripod having six feet.
Cat of nine tails, an instrument of punishment, consisting of nine pieces of line or cord fastened to a piece of thick rope, and having three knots at intervals, used to flog offenders on board of ships.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats [syn: cat, true cat]
2: an informal term for a youth or man; "a nice guy"; "the guy's only doing it for some doll" [syn: guy, cat, hombre, bozo]
3: a spiteful woman gossip; "what a cat she is!"
4: the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant; "in Yemen kat is used daily by 85% of adults" [syn: kat, khat, qat, quat, cat, Arabian tea, African tea]
5: a whip with nine knotted cords; "British sailors feared the cat" [syn: cat-o'-nine-tails, cat]
6: a large tracked vehicle that is propelled by two endless metal belts; frequently used for moving earth in construction and farm work [syn: Caterpillar, cat]
7: any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild [syn: big cat, cat]
8: a method of examining body organs by scanning them with X rays and using a computer to construct a series of cross- sectional scans along a single axis [syn: computerized tomography, computed tomography, CT, computerized axial tomography, computed axial tomography, CAT] v
1: beat with a cat-o'-nine-tails
2: eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth; "After drinking too much, the students vomited"; "He purged continuously"; "The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night" [syn: vomit, vomit up, purge, cast, sick, cat, be sick, disgorge, regorge, retch, puke, barf, spew, spue, chuck, upchuck, honk, regurgitate, throw up] [ant: keep down]

Merriam Webster's

trademark — used for a Caterpillar tractor

Merriam Webster's

abbreviation 1. clean-air turbulence 2. computerized axial tomography

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English catt, probably from Late Latin cattus, catta cat Date: before 12th century 1. a. a carnivorous mammal (Felis catus) long domesticated as a pet and for catching rats and mice b. any of a family (Felidae) of carnivorous usually solitary and nocturnal mammals (as the domestic cat, lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cougar, wildcat, lynx, and cheetah) 2. a malicious woman 3. a strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship 4. a. catboat b. catamaran 5. cat-o'-nine-tails 6. catfish 7. a. a player or devotee of jazz b. guy II. verb (catted; catting) Date: 1681 intransitive verb to search for a sexual mate — often used with around transitive verb to bring (an anchor) up to the cathead III. abbreviation 1. catalog 2. catalyst

Britannica Concise

Any member of the most highly specialized carnivore family, Felidae, which consists of the true cats (genera Panthera and Felis) and the cheetah (Acinonyx). Modern-type cats appeared in the fossil record about 10 million years ago. Cats in the genus Panthera (sometimes Leo) (e.g., tiger and lion) roar but cannot purr, and their pupils are round. Cats in the genus Felis (e.g., cougar) can purr but do not roar; the pupil is usually vertical. Cats have sharp, retractable claws, and their teeth are adapted for stabbing, anchoring, and cutting. They almost always land on their feet when they fall from a height. Most species are nocturnal, and their eyes are adapted for seeing in low light. Cats are known for their habit of grooming themselves with their rasplike tongue. Small cats have been domesticated for some 3,500 years (see domestic cat). The wild cats include the bobcat, caracal, jaguar, leopard, lynx, ocelot, serval, snow leopard, and wildcat.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

abbr. 1 computer-assisted (or -aided) testing. 2 Med. computerized axial tomography.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a small soft-furred four-legged domesticated animal, Felis catus. 2 a any wild animal of the genus Felis, e.g. a lion, tiger, or leopard. b = wild cat. 3 a catlike animal of any other species (civet cat). 4 colloq. a malicious or spiteful woman. 5 sl. a jazz enthusiast. 6 Naut. = CATHEAD. 7 = cat-o'-nine-tails. 8 a short tapered stick in the game of tipcat. --v.tr. (also absol.) (catted, catting) Naut. raise (an anchor) from the surface of the water to the cathead. Phrases and idioms: cat-and-dog (of a relationship etc.) full of quarrels. cat burglar a burglar who enters by climbing to an upper storey. cat flap (or door) a small swinging flap in an outer door, for a cat to pass in and out. cat-ice thin ice unsupported by water. cat-o'-nine-tails hist. a rope whip with nine knotted lashes for flogging sailors, soldiers, or criminals. cat's cradle a child's game in which a loop of string is held between the fingers and patterns are formed. Cat's-eye Brit. propr. one of a series of reflector studs set into a road. cat's-eye a precious stone of Sri Lanka and Malabar. cat's-foot any small plant of the genus Antennaria, having soft woolly leaves and growing on the surface of the ground. cat's-paw 1 a person used as a tool by another. 2 a slight breeze rippling the surface of the water. cat's-tail = reed-mace (see REED(1)). cat's whiskers (or pyjamas) sl. an excellent person or thing. let the cat out of the bag reveal a secret, esp. involuntarily. like a cat on hot bricks (or on a hot tin roof) very agitated or agitatedly. put (or set) the cat among the pigeons cause trouble. rain cats and dogs rain very hard. Etymology: OE catt(e) f. LL cattus

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cat Cat, n. [AS. cat; akin to D. & Dan. kat, Sw. kett, Icel. k["o]ttr, G. katze, kater, Ir. Cat, W. cath, Armor. kaz, LL. catus, Bisc. catua, NGr. ?, ?, Russ. & Pol. cot, Turk. kedi, Ar. qitt; of unknown origin. CF. Ketten.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) An animal of various species of the genera Felis 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) See Wild cat, and Tiger cat. Note: The domestic cat includes many varieties named from their place of origin or from some peculiarity; as, the Angora cat; the Maltese cat; the Manx cat. Note: The word cat is also used to designate other animals, from some fancied resemblance; as, civet cat, fisher cat, catbird, catfish shark, sea cat. 2. (Naut.) (a) A strong vessel with a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and deep waist. It is employed in the coal and timber trade. (b) A strong tackle used to draw an anchor up to the cathead of a ship. --Totten. 3. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.), having six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position in is placed. 4. An old game; (a) The game of tipcat and the implement with which it is played. See Tipcat. (c) A game of ball, called, according to the number of batters, one old cat, two old cat, etc. 5. A cat o' nine tails. See below. Angora cat, blind cat, See under Angora, Blind. Black cat the fisher. See under Black. Cat and dog, like a cat and dog; quarrelsome; inharmonious. ``I am sure we have lived a cat and dog life of it.'' --Coleridge. Cat block (Naut.), a heavy iron-strapped block with a large hook, part of the tackle used in drawing an anchor up to the cathead. Cat hook (Naut.), a strong hook attached to a cat block. Cat nap, a very short sleep. [Colloq.] Cat o' nine tails, an instrument of punishment consisting of nine pieces of knotted line or cord fastened to a handle; -- formerly used to flog offenders on the bare back. Cat's cradle, game played, esp. by children, with a string looped on the fingers so, as to resemble small cradle. The string is transferred from the fingers of one to those of another, at each transfer with a change of form. See Cratch, Cratch cradle. To let the cat out of the bag, to tell a secret, carelessly or willfully. [Colloq.] Bush cat, the serval. See Serval.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cat Cat, v. t. [imp. & p. p. tted; p. pr. & vb. n. Catting.] (Naut.) To bring to the cathead; as, to cat an anchor. See Anchor. --Totten.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cats) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A cat is a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. Cats are often kept as pets. N-COUNT 2. Cats are lions, tigers, and other wild animals in the same family. N-COUNT 3. see also Cheshire cat, fat cat, wildcat 4. If you let the cat out of the bag, you tell people about something that was being kept secret. You often do this by mistake. PHRASE: V inflects 5. In a fight or contest, if one person plays cat and mouse, or a game of cat and mouse, with the other, the first person tries to confuse or deceive the second in order to defeat them. After three hours of playing cat and mouse, they threatened to open fire on our vessel, so we stopped... PHRASE: usu v PHR, PHR n 6. If you put the cat among the pigeons or set the cat among the pigeons, you cause fierce argument or discussion by doing or saying something. (BRIT) The bank is poised to put the cat among the pigeons this morning by slashing the cost of borrowing. PHRASE: V inflects 7. If you say 'There's no room to swing a cat' or 'You can't swing a cat', you mean that the place you are talking about is very small or crowded. It was described as a large, luxury mobile home, but there was barely room to swing a cat. PHRASE: with brd-neg, usu v-link PHR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(ailouros): The only mention of this animal is in Baruch 6:22. It is not mentioned in the canonical Scriptures, though Bochart (Hieroz., 862) gives "wild cats" as the equivalent of tsyim in Isa 13:21; 34:14; Jer 50:39; Ps 74:19, where English Versions of the Bible gives "wild beasts of the desert." Mention is, however, made of cats, cathod, in the Welsh Bible (Isa 34:14). The only mention of the catta in classical Latin writers is in Martial xiii.69. How the cat was regarded in Egypt is described in Herod. ii.66 and Rawlinson's notes. In Baruch 6:22 cats are mentioned with "bats, swallows and birds" as sitting with impunity on the images of the heathen gods which are unable to drive them off.

See also ZOOLOGY.

J. Hutchison

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A common prostitute. An old cat; a cross old woman.

Moby Thesaurus

Abyssinian cat, Adamite, Angora cat, Argus, Cheshire cat, Chinchilla cat, Himalayan cat, Maltese cat, Manx cat, Persian cat, alley cat, barf, bastard, being, belt, bird, blacksnake, bloke, blue cat, blue devils, blues, body, boy, buck, bugger, bullwhack, bullwhip, calico cat, cascade, cast, chap, character, coon cat, cowhide, creature, crop, customer, dods, dorts, duck, dumps, eagle, earthling, feline, feller, fellow, ferret, flagellum, frumps, gee, gent, gentleman, gib, gib-cat, grimalkin, groundling, grumps, guy, hand, hawk, head, heave, homo, horsewhip, house cat, human, human being, individual, jasper, joker, kit, kitling, kitten, kitty, kitty-cat, knout, kurbash, lad, lash, life, living soul, lynx, man, mopes, mortal, mouser, mulligrubs, mumps, nose, one, party, person, personage, personality, pouts, puke, puss, pussy, pussycat, quirt, rawhide, razor strap, scourge, silver cat, single, sjambok, somebody, someone, soul, spew, strap, stud, sulks, sullens, tabby, tabby cat, tellurian, terran, thong, throw up, tiger cat, tom, tomcat, tortoise-shell cat, weasel, whip, whiplash, worldling