cat Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Cat noun
Etymology
AS. cat; akin to D. & Dan. kat, Sw. kett, Icel. köttr, 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.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) 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. ✍ 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. 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.
Cat transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle tted; present participle & verbal noun Catting
Definitions
  1. (Naut.) To bring to the cathead; as, to cat an anchor. See Anchor. Totten.

Webster 1913