cat

[kat] noun, verb, cat·ted, cat·ting.
noun
1.
a small domesticated carnivore, Felis domestica or F. catus, bred in a number of varieties.
2.
any of several carnivores of the family Felidae, as the lion, tiger, leopard or jaguar, etc.
3.
Slang.
a.
a person, especially a man.
b.
a devotee of jazz.
4.
a woman given to spiteful or malicious gossip.
5.
the fur of the domestic cat.
6.
a cat-o'-nine-tails.
7.
Games.
a.
Chiefly British. the tapering piece of wood used in the game of tipcat.
b.
Chiefly British. the game itself.
c.
four old cat, one old cat, three old cat, two old cat.
8.
a catboat.
9.
a catamaran.
10.
a catfish.
11.
Nautical. a tackle used in hoisting an anchor to the cathead.
12.
a double tripod having six legs but resting on only three no matter how it is set down, usually used before or over a fire.
13.
Navy Informal. catapult ( def 2 ).
14.
(in medieval warfare) a movable shelter for providing protection when approaching a fortification.
verb (used with object)
15.
to flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.
16.
Nautical. to hoist (an anchor) and secure to a cathead.
00:10
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to run away hurriedly; flee.
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
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verb (used without object)
17.
British Slang. to vomit.
Verb phrases
18.
cat around, Slang.
a.
to spend one's time aimlessly or idly.
b.
to seek sexual activity indiscriminately; tomcat.
Idioms
19.
bell the cat, to attempt something formidable or dangerous.
20.
let the cat out of the bag, to divulge a secret, especially inadvertently or carelessly: He let the cat out of the bag, and the surprise party wasn't a surprise after all.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English cat, catte, Old English catt (masculine), catte (feminine); cognate with Old Frisian, Middle Dutch katte, Old High German kazza, Old Norse kǫttr, Irish cat, Welsh cath (Slavic *kotŭ, Lithuanian katė̃ perhaps < Gmc), Late Latin cattus, catta (first attested in the 4th century, presumably with the introduction of domestic cats); ultimately origin obscure

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Cat

[kat]
Trademark. a Caterpillar tractor.

CAT

1.
clear-air turbulence.
2.
Medicine/Medical. computerized axial tomography.
Compare CAT scanner.

cat.

1.
catalog; catalogue.
2.
catechism.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To cat
Collins
World English Dictionary
cat1 (kæt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  Also called: domestic cat a small domesticated feline mammal, Felis catus (or domesticus), having thick soft fur and occurring in many breeds in which the colour of the fur varies greatly: kept as a pet or to catch rats and mice
2.  Also called: big cat any of the larger felines, such as a lion or tiger
3.  any wild feline mammal of the genus Felis, such as the lynx or serval, resembling the domestic catRelated: feline
4.  old-fashioned a woman who gossips maliciously
5.  slang a man; guy
6.  nautical a heavy tackle for hoisting an anchor to the cathead
7.  a short sharp-ended piece of wood used in the game of tipcat
8.  short for catboat
9.  informal short for Caterpillar
10.  short for cat-o'-nine-tails
11.  informal (Irish) a bag of cats a bad-tempered person: she's a real bag of cats this morning
12.  fight like Kilkenny cats to fight until both parties are destroyed
13.  let the cat out of the bag to disclose a secret, often by mistake
14.  like a cat on a hot tin roof, like a cat on hot bricks in an uneasy or agitated state
15.  like cat and dog quarrelling savagely
16.  look like something the cat brought in to appear dishevelled or bedraggled
17.  not a cat in hell's chance no chance at all
18.  not have room to swing a cat to have very little space
19.  play cat and mouse to play with a person or animal in a cruel or teasing way, esp before a final act of cruelty or unkindness
20.  put the cat among the pigeons to introduce some violently disturbing new element
21.  rain cats and dogs to rain very heavily
 
—vb , cats, catting, catted
22.  (tr) to flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails
23.  (tr) nautical to hoist (an anchor) to the cathead
24.  (intr) a slang word for vomit
 
Related: feline
 
[Old English catte, from Latin cattus; related to Old Norse köttr, Old High German kazza, Old French chat, Russian kot]
 
'catlike1
 
—adj
 
'cattish1
 
—adj

cat2 (kæt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
informal short for catamaran

cat3 (kæt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a.  short for catalytic converter
 b.  (as modifier): a cat car
 
—adj
2.  short for catalytic : a cat cracker

CAT
 
—abbreviation for
1.  computer-aided teaching
2.  computer-assisted trading

cat.
 
—abbreviation for
1.  catalogue
2.  catamaran

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

cat
O.E. (c.700), from W.Gmc. (c.400-450), from P.Gmc. *kattuz, from L.L. cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in Europe as L. catta (Martial, c.75 C.E.), Byzantine Gk. katta (c.350) and was in general use on the continent by c. 700, replacing L. feles. Probably ult. Afro-Asiatic (cf.
Nubian kadis, Berber kadiska, both meaning "cat"). Arabic qitt "tomcat" may be from the same source. Cats were domestic in Egypt from c.2000 B.C.E., but not a familiar household animal to classical Greeks and Romans. The nine lives have been proverbial since at least 1560s. Extended to lions, tigers, etc. c.1600. As a term of contempt for a woman, from early 13c. Slang sense of "prostitute" is from at least c.1400. Slang sense of "fellow, guy," is from 1920, originally in U.S. Black Eng.; narrower sense of "jazz enthusiast" is recorded from 1931. Catnap is from 1823; catfish is from c.1620. Cat's-cradle is from 1768. Cat-o'-nine-tails (1690s), probably so called in reference to its "claws," was legal instrument of punishment in British Navy until 1881. Cat's paw (1769, but cat's foot in the same sense, 1597) refers to old folk tale in which the monkey tricks the cat into pawing chestnuts from a fire; the monkey gets the nuts, the cat gets a burnt paw. To rain cats and dogs (c.1652) is probably an extension of cats and dogs as proverbial for "strife, enmity" (1570s). Cat-witted "small-minded, obstinate, and spiteful" (1670s) deserved to survive. For Cat's meow, cat's pajamas, see bee's knees.

CAT
1975, medical acronym for computerized axial tomography or something like it.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

CAT abbr.
computerized axial tomography

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

cat definition


  1. n.
    a fellow; a guy; a dude. : Now, this cat wants to borrow some money from me. What should I do?
  2. in.
    to empty one's stomach; to vomit. : Looks like somebody catted in the bushes.
  3. n.
    a gossipy woman. : Mary can be such a cat, you know.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

CAT definition


Common Abstract Tree Language. R. Voeller & Uwe Schmidt, U Kiel, Germany 1983. Universal intermediate language, used by Norsk Data in their family of compilers. "A Multi-Language Compiler System with Automatically Generated Codegenerators, U. Schmidt et al, SIGPLAN Notices 19(6):202-2121 (June 1984).
[Jargon File]

cat definition

tool
(From "catenate") Unix's command which copies one or more entire files to the screen or some other output sink without pause.
See also dd, BLT.
Among Unix fans, cat is considered an excellent example of user-interface design, because it delivers the file contents without such verbosity as spacing or headers between the files (the pr command can be used to do this), and because it does not require the files to consist of lines of text, but works with any sort of data.
Among Unix haters, cat is considered the canonical example of *bad* user-interface design, because of its woefully unobvious name. It is far more often used to blast a file to standard output than to concatenate files. The name "cat" for the former operation is just as unintuitive as, say, LISP's cdr.
Of such oppositions are holy wars made.
(1994-11-29)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
cat
cataract
CAT

  1. Caterpillar Inc.

  2. clear air turbulence

  3. computerized axial tomography

cat.

  1. catalog

  2. catapult

  3. catechism

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

cat

In addition to the idioms beginning with cat, also see alley cat; bell the cat; curiosity killed the cat; fat cat; grin like a Cheshire cat; let the cat out of the bag; like a cat on a hot brick; look like something the cat dragged in; look like the cat that ate the canary; more than one way to skin a cat; not enough room to swing a cat; play cat and mouse; rain cats and dogs; when the cat's away.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences from the web
Ferrets are capable of delivering a bite almost as strong as a domestic cat.
The cdc believes that the patient, a veterinarian, contracted plague from a stray cat.
These are physical properties and should not be confused with a breed of cat.
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