Library / English Dictionary

CAT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: catted    , catting   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

CAT; computed axial tomography; computed tomography; computerized axial tomography; computerized tomography; CT

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("CAT" is a kind of...):

X-radiation; X-raying (obtaining images by the use of X rays)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats

Synonyms:

cat; true cat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

felid; feline (any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cat"):

domestic cat; Felis catus; Felis domesticus; house cat (any domesticated member of the genus Felis)

wildcat (any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild

Synonyms:

big cat; cat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

felid; feline (any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cat"):

leopard; Panthera pardus (large feline of African and Asian forests usually having a tawny coat with black spots)

ounce; Panthera uncia; snow leopard (large feline of upland central Asia having long thick whitish fur)

Felis onca; jaguar; panther; Panthera onca (a large spotted feline of tropical America similar to the leopard; in some classifications considered a member of the genus Felis)

king of beasts; lion; Panthera leo (large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male)

Panthera tigris; tiger (large feline of forests in most of Asia having a tawny coat with black stripes; endangered)

liger (offspring of a male lion and a female tiger)

tiglon; tigon (offspring of a male tiger and a female lion)

Acinonyx jubatus; cheetah; chetah (long-legged spotted cat of Africa and southwestern Asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game)

saber-toothed tiger; sabertooth (any of many extinct cats of the Old and New Worlds having long swordlike upper canine teeth; from the Oligocene through the Pleistocene)

Holonyms ("cat" is a member of...):

family Felidae; Felidae (cats; wildcats; lions; leopards; cheetahs; saber-toothed tigers)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A large tracked vehicle that is propelled by two endless metal belts; frequently used for moving earth in construction and farm work

Synonyms:

cat; Caterpillar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

tracked vehicle (a self-propelled vehicle that moves on tracks)

Domain usage:

slang (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A whip with nine knotted cords

Example:

British sailors feared the cat

Synonyms:

cat; cat-o'-nine-tails

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

whip (an instrument with a handle and a flexible lash that is used for whipping)

Derivation:

cat (beat with a cat-o'-nine-tails)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant

Example:

in Yemen kat is used daily by 85% of adults

Synonyms:

African tea; Arabian tea; cat; kat; khat; qat; quat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

excitant; stimulant; stimulant drug (a drug that temporarily quickens some vital process)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A spiteful woman gossip

Example:

what a cat she is!

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

gossip; gossiper; gossipmonger; newsmonger; rumormonger; rumourmonger (a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others)

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

Derivation:

catty (marked by or arising from malice)

Sense 8

Meaning:

An informal term for a youth or man

Example:

the poor sod couldn't even buy a drink

Synonyms:

bozo; cat; guy; hombre; sod

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("cat" is a kind of...):

adult male; man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth

Example:

The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night

Synonyms:

barf; be sick; cast; cat; chuck; disgorge; honk; puke; purge; regorge; regurgitate; retch; sick; spew; spue; throw up; upchuck; vomit; vomit up

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "cat" is one way to...):

egest; eliminate; excrete; pass (eliminate from the body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Beat with a cat-o'-nine-tails

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cat" is one way to...):

flog; lash; lather; slash; strap; trounce; welt; whip (beat severely with a whip or rod)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to cat the prisoners

Derivation:

cat (a whip with nine knotted cords)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is an illness caused by the bacterium Bartonella henselae.

(Cat Scratch Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

He will only say: "I don't take any stock in cats. I have more to think of now, and I can wait; I can wait."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I fell to the floor, feeling very faint, while he sat down, lighted a cigar, and watched me as a cat watches a mouse.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

No; we don’t keep a cat.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A diverse taxonomic order of placental mammals that includes bears, dogs, cats, and ferrets.

(Carnivora, NCI Thesaurus)

I am lean, like a starved cat, and I am glad of my bed at night, and in the morning am I greatly weary.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

All the day long she flew about in the form of an owl, or crept about the country like a cat; but at night she always became an old woman again.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Surprisingly, however, children with the highest level of exposure to allergens from cockroaches, mice, and cats during their first year were least likely to have recurrent wheezing at age 3.

(Infant Exposure to Allergens May Help Prevent Wheezing, NIH)

Elephants, as well as other large, charismatic animals such as tigers, monkeys and civet cats, are under attack from hunters and poachers.

(Overhunting of large animals has catastrophic effects on trees, NSF)

“Any spacecraft that lands in regions of granular material on Titan is going to have a tough time staying clean. Think of putting a cat in a box of packing peanuts.”

('Electric Sands' Cover Titan, VOA News)