English
cat
see also: Cat, CAT
Pronunciation
  • (America, British) enPR: kăt, IPA: /kæt/, [kʰæt], [kʰæt̚]
  • (British) IPA: /kat/
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. An animal of the family Felidae:
    Synonyms: felid
    1. A domesticated subspecies (Felis silvestris catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet. [from 8thc.]
      • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619 ↗:
        At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
      Synonyms: puss, pussy, malkin, kitty, pussy-cat, grimalkin, Thesaurus:cat
    2. Any similar animal of the family Felidae, which includes lions, tigers, bobcats, etc.
      • 1985 January, George Laycock, "Our American Lion", in Boy Scouts of America, Boys' Life, 28.
        If you should someday round a corner on the hiking trail and come face to face with a mountain lion, you would probably never forget the mighty cat.
  2. A person:
    1. (offensive) A spiteful or angry woman. [from early 13thc.]
      • 1835 September, anonymous, "The Pigs", in The New-England Magazine, Vol. 9, 156.
        But, ere one rapid moon its tale has told, / He finds his prize — a cat — a slut — a scold.
      Synonyms: bitch
    2. An enthusiast or player of jazz.
    3. (slang) A person (usually male).
      • 1973 December, "Books Noted", discussing A Dialogue (by James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni), in Black World, Johnson Publishing Company, 77.
        BALDWIN: That's what we were talking about before. And by the way, you did not have to tell me that you think your father is a groovy cat; I knew that.
      Synonyms: bloke, chap, cove, dude, fellow, fella, guy
    4. (slang) A prostitute. [from at least early 15thc.]
  3. (nautical) A strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship.
  4. (chiefly, nautical) Short form of cat-o'-nine-tails.
  5. (archaic) A sturdy merchant sailing vessel (now only in "catboat").
  6. (archaic, uncountable) The game of "trap and ball" (also called "cat and dog").
    1. The trap of the game of "trap and ball".
  7. (archaic) The pointed piece of wood that is struck in the game of tipcat.
  8. (slang, vulgar, African American Vernacular English) A vagina, a vulva; the female external genitalia.
  9. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.) with six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.
  10. (historical) A wheeled shelter, used in the Middle Ages as a siege weapon to allow assailants to approach enemy defences.
    Synonyms: tortoise, Welsh cat
Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:cat, Thesaurus:man.

Verb

cat (cats, present participle catting; past and past participle catted)

  1. (nautical, transitive) To hoist (the anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead.
    • 1922, Francis Lynde, Pirates' Hope, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, page 226:
      The anchors were catted at the bows of the yacht …
  2. (nautical, transitive) To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.
  3. (slang) To vomit something.
  4. To go wandering at night.
  5. To gossip in a catty manner.
Translations Translations
  • French: fouetter avec un chat à neuf queues
Translations Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. Abbreviation of catamaran#English|catamaran.
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (computing) A program and command in Unix that reads one or more files and directs their content to the standard output.
Verb

cat (cats, present participle catting; past and past participle catted)

  1. (computing, transitive) To apply the cat command to (one or more files).
  2. (computing, slang) To dump large amounts of data on (an unprepared target) usually with no intention of browsing it carefully.
Adjective

cat (not comparable)

  1. (Ireland, informal) Terrible, disastrous.
    The weather was cat, so they returned home early.
Noun

cat (uncountable)

  1. (slang) A street name of the drug methcathinone.
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (military, naval) A catapult.
    a carrier's bow cats
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. Abbreviation of category#English|category.
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. Abbreviation of catfish#English|catfish.
    • 1916, M. Shults, "Fishing for Yellow Cat in the Brazos", in Field and Stream, vol. 21, 478.
      Fishing for cat is probably, up to a certain stage, the least exciting of all similar sports.
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (slang) Any of a variety of earth-moving machines. (from their manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.)
  2. A caterpillar drive vehicle (a ground vehicle which uses caterpillar tracks), especially tractors, trucks, minibuses, and snow groomers.
Cat
Proper noun
  1. A female given name.
Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (slang) A piece of heavy machinery, such as a backhoe, of the Caterpillar brand.
CAT
Noun

cat

  1. Acronym of computer-adaptive test
  2. Acronym of common admission test
  3. Acronym of civil air transport
  4. Acronym of clear-air turbulence
  5. (medicine) Acronym of computed axial tomography
  6. Acronym of career aptitude test
  7. Acronym of computer-assisted/aided translation
  8. Acronym of credit authorization terminal
  9. Acronym of citizenship advancement training
  10. Acronym of computer-aided transceiver
  11. Acronym of cosmic anisotropy telescope
  12. Acronym of coital alignment technique
  13. Acronym of conidial anastomosis tube
  14. Acronym of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase
  15. Acronym of crisis assessment team
Synonyms Proper noun
  1. Centre for Alternative Technology
  2. Counter Assault Team
  3. Citizens Area Transit
  4. Canadian Achievement Tests
  5. Cambridge Antibody Technology


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