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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 Cra·dle n.
 1. A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots; hence, the place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence; as, a cradle of crime; the cradle of liberty.
    The cradle that received thee at thy birth.   --Cowper.
 No sooner was I crept out of my cradle
 But I was made a king, at nine months old.   --Shak.
 2. Infancy, or very early life.
    From their cradles bred together.   --Shak.
    A form of worship in which they had been educated from their cradles.
 3. Agric. An implement consisting of a broad scythe for cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it evenly in a swath.
 4. Engraving A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so preparing the ground.
 5. A framework of timbers, or iron bars, moving upon ways or rollers, used to support, lift, or carry ships or other vessels, heavy guns, etc., as up an inclined plane, or across a strip of land, or in launching a ship.
 6. Med. (a) A case for a broken or dislocated limb. (b) A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the person.
 7. Mining (a) A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth; -- also called a rocker. [U.S.] (b) A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
 8. Carp. The ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
 9. Naut. The basket or apparatus in which, when a line has been made fast to a wrecked ship from the shore, the people are brought off from the wreck.
 Cat's cradle. See under Cat.
 Cradle hole, a sunken place in a road, caused by thawing, or by travel over a soft spot.
 Cradle scythe, a broad scythe used in a cradle for cutting grain.


 cat's cradle
      n : a game played with string looped over the fingers