Cat

n. [A-S. cat, D. & Dan. kat, Sw. katt, Icel. köttr, L. Ger. katte, H. Ger. katze, kater, O. Fr. & Pr. cat, N. Fr. chat, Catalan gat, Sp. & Pg. gato, It. gatto, Ir. cat, W. câth, Corn. kath, Armor. kaz, kâch, Late Lat. cattus, Bisc. catua, N. Gr. γάτα, γάτος, Russ. & Pol. kot, Turk. keli, Ar. qitt.]

1. (Zoöl.) An animal of certain species of the genera Felis and Lynx. The domestic cat is the Felis domestica. The wild cat (Felis catus) is much larger than the domestic cat, and is a strong, ferocious animal. [See Illust. of Wild-cat.]
2. (Naut.) (a.) A ship having a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist. It is employed in the coal trade. (b.) A strong tackle or combination of pulleys, to hook and draw an anchor up to the cat-head of a ship. Totten.
3. A double tripod, having six feet.
4. An old game at ball, and an implement with which it was played.

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 of nine tails, an instrument of punishment used to flog offenders on board of ships, consisting of nine pieces of line or cord fastened to a piece of thick rope, and having three knots at intervals. — To turn a cat in a pan, to make a sudden change of one's party in politics or religion, for the sake of being in the ascendant; as a cat always comes down on her feet, however turned or thrown.