cat /ˈkæt/
貓,惡婦(vi.)嘔吐計算機輔助教育,計算機輔助測試,計算機輔助繙譯
cat n.
1. Zool. Any animal belonging to the natural family Felidae, and in particular to the various species of the genera Felis, Panthera, 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). The larger felines, such as the lion, tiger, leopard, and cougar, are often referred to as cats, and sometimes as big cats. See Wild cat, and Tiger cat.
Note: ☞ 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 Siamese cat.
Note: 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.
3. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.), having six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.
4. An old game; specifically: (a) The game of tipcat and the implement with which it is played. See Tipcat. (b) A game of ball, called, according to the number of batters, one old cat, two old cat, etc.
5. same as cat o' nine tails; as, British sailors feared the cat.
Angora cat, blind cat, See under Angora, Blind.
Black cat the fisher. See under Black.
Cat and dog, like a cat and dog; quarrelsome; inharmonious. “I am sure we have lived a cat and dog life of it.” --Coleridge.
Cat block Naut., a heavy iron-strapped block with a large hook, part of the tackle used in drawing an anchor up to the cathead.
Cat hook Naut., a strong hook attached to a cat block.
Cat nap, a very short sleep. [Colloq.]
Cat o' nine tails, an instrument of punishment consisting of nine pieces of knotted line or cord fastened to a handle; -- formerly used to flog offenders on the bare back.
Cat's cradle, game played, esp. by children, with a string looped on the fingers so, as to resemble small cradle. The string is transferred from the fingers of one to those of another, at each transfer with a change of form. See Cratch, Cratch cradle.
To bell the cat, to perform a very dangerous or very difficult task; -- taken metaphorically from a fable about a mouse who proposes to put a bell on a cat, so as to be able to hear the cat coming.
To let the cat out of the bag, to tell a secret, carelessly or willfully. [Colloq.]
Bush cat, the serval. See Serval.
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Cat v. t. [imp. & p. p. Catted; p. pr. & vb. n. Catting.] Naut. To bring to the cathead; as, to cat an anchor. See Anchor.
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cat
n 1: feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and being unable
to roar; domestic cats; wildcats [syn: true cat]
2: an informal term for a youth or man; "a nice guy"; "the
guy's only doing it for some doll" [syn: guy, hombre,
bozo]
3: a spiteful woman gossip; "what a cat she is!"
4: the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like
tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric
stimulant; "in Yemen kat is used daily by 85% of adults"
[syn: kat, khat, qat, quat, Arabian tea, African
tea]
5: a whip with nine knotted cords; "British sailors feared the
cat" [syn: cat-o'-nine-tails]
6: a large vehicle that is driven by caterpillar tracks;
frequently used for moving earth in construction and farm
work [syn: Caterpillar]
7: any of several large cats typically able to roar and living
in the wild [syn: big cat]
8: 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 [syn: computerized
tomography, computed tomography, CT, computerized
axial tomography, computed axial tomography]
v 1: beat with a cat-o'-nine-tails
2: eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth; "After
drinking too much, the students vomited"; "He purged
continuously"; "The patient regurgitated the food we gave
him last night" [syn: vomit, vomit up, purge, cast,
sick, be sick, disgorge, regorge, retch, puke,
barf, spew, spue, chuck, upchuck, honk, regurgitate,
throw up] [ant: keep down]
[also: catting, catted]