cat
cats; catted; catting
What's another name for the four-legged feline that lies around on your keyboard all day and purrs? You might call it “Fluffy,” but it’s also known as a cat.
If you’re in the market for a pet cat, just make sure it meows, and doesn’t roar like the lion, tiger, or jaguar, all of which are in the same family as the housecat. Domesticated as long ago as ancient Egyptian times, the cat is a fixture not only in many homes, but also in a host of English expressions — like, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play,” “it’s raining cats and dogs,” and “the cat’s pajamas.”
Definitions of cat
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feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
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synonyms:
true cat
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types:
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Felis catus, Felis domesticus, domestic cat, house cat
any domesticated member of the genus Felis
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wildcat
any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild
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kitty, kitty-cat, puss, pussy, pussycat
informal terms referring to a domestic cat
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mouser
a cat proficient at mousing
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alley cat
a homeless cat
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tom, tomcat
male cat
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queen, tabby
female cat
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tabby, tabby cat
a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black
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tiger cat
a cat having a striped coat
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calico cat, tortoiseshell, tortoiseshell-cat
a cat having black and cream-colored and yellowish markings
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Persian cat
a long-haired breed of cat
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Angora, Angora cat
a long-haired breed of cat similar to the Persian cat
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Siamese, Siamese cat
a slender short-haired blue-eyed breed of cat having a pale coat with dark ears paws face and tail tip
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Burmese cat
a short-haired breed with body similar to the Siamese cat but having a solid dark brown or grey coat
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Egyptian cat
a domestic cat of Egypt
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Maltese, Maltese cat
a term applied indiscriminately in the United States to any short-haired bluish-grey cat
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Abyssinian, Abyssinian cat
a small slender short-haired breed of African origin having brownish fur with a reddish undercoat
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Manx, Manx cat
a short-haired tailless breed of cat believed to originate on the Isle of Man
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sand cat
a desert wildcat
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European wildcat, Felis silvestris, catamountain
bushy-tailed wildcat of Europe that resembles the domestic cat and is regarded as the ancestor of the domestic cat
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Felis concolor, catamount, cougar, mountain lion, painter, panther, puma
large American feline resembling a lion
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Felis pardalis, ocelot, panther cat
nocturnal wildcat of Central America and South America having a dark-spotted buff-brown coat
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Felis yagouaroundi, eyra, jaguarondi, jaguarundi, jaguarundi cat
long-bodied long-tailed tropical American wildcat
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Felis ocreata, caffer cat, kaffir cat
widely distributed wildcat of Africa and Asia Minor
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Felis chaus, jungle cat
small Asiatic wildcat
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Felis serval, serval
slender long-legged African wildcat having large untufted ears and tawny black-spotted coat
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Felis bengalensis, leopard cat
small spotted wildcat of southern Asia and Malaysia
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Felis tigrina, tiger cat
medium-sized wildcat of Central America and South America having a dark-striped coat
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Felis wiedi, margay, margay cat
small spotted wildcat found from Texas to Brazil
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Felis manul, Pallas's cat, manul
small wildcat of the mountains of Siberia and Tibet and Mongolia
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catamount, lynx
short-tailed wildcats with usually tufted ears; valued for their fur
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any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild
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synonyms:
big cat
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types:
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Panthera pardus, leopard
large feline of African and Asian forests usually having a tawny coat with black spots
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Panthera uncia, ounce, snow leopard
large feline of upland central Asia having long thick whitish fur
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Felis onca, Panthera onca, jaguar, panther
a large spotted feline of tropical America similar to the leopard; in some classifications considered a member of the genus Felis
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Panthera leo, king of beasts, lion
large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male
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Panthera tigris, tiger
large feline of forests in most of Asia having a tawny coat with black stripes; endangered
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liger
offspring of a male lion and a female tiger
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tiglon, tigon
offspring of a male tiger and a female lion
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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
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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
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lion cub
a young lion
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tiger cub
a young tiger
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leopardess
female leopard
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panther
a leopard in the black color phase
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lioness
a female lion
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lionet
a small or young lion
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Bengal tiger
southern short-haired tiger
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tigress
a female tiger
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Smiledon californicus
North American sabertooth; culmination of sabertooth development
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false saber-toothed tiger
North American cat of the Miocene and Pliocene; much earlier and less specialized than members of the genus Smiledon
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a whip with nine knotted cords“British sailors feared the cat”
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synonyms:
cat-o'-nine-tails
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type of:
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whip
an instrument with a handle and a flexible lash that is used for whipping
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whip
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beat with a cat-o'-nine-tails
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a large tracked vehicle that is propelled by two endless metal belts; frequently used for moving earth in construction and farm work
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synonyms:
Caterpillar
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type of:
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tracked vehicle
a self-propelled vehicle that moves on tracks
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tracked vehicle
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a spiteful woman gossip“what a cat she is!”
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type of:
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gossip, gossiper, gossipmonger, newsmonger, rumormonger, rumourmonger
a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others
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adult female, woman
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
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gossip, gossiper, gossipmonger, newsmonger, rumormonger, rumourmonger
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an informal term for a youth or man
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the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant
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synonyms:
African tea, Arabian tea, kat, khat, qat, quat
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type of:
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excitant, stimulant, stimulant drug
a drug that temporarily quickens some vital process
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excitant, stimulant, stimulant drug
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eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘cat'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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