ENGLISH
REFERENCE

cat

n. · v. · adj.
US //ˈkæt// UK //kˈæt// cat
  1. 1 pet animal (n.)
    A1 Beginner

    a small animal with fur, four legs, and a tail that people often keep as a pet.

    the domestic feline mammal, Felis catus, commonly kept as a companion animal or for catching mice.

    Example

    The cat sat on the windowsill and watched the birds in the garden.

    Example

    The domestic cat has lived alongside humans for thousands of years, valued for its predatory instincts and companionship.
  2. 2 wild feline (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    any large wild animal in the same family, such as a lion or tiger.

    any of various carnivorous mammals of the family Felidae, including both small and large species.

    Example

    Lions and tigers are the largest cats in the world.

    Example

    Conservationists are working to protect the habitats of big cats like leopards and jaguars from further encroachment.
    • felid
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  1. 3 jazz fan or person (n.)
    C1 Advanced Slang Informal Music

    a person, especially someone who likes jazz music.

    a person, particularly a man; historically associated with jazz subculture and beatnik slang.

    Example

    He was a cool cat who knew everything about the local jazz scene.

    Example

    The club was filled with hip cats who spent the entire night discussing the nuances of bebop.
  2. 4 boat (n.)
    C1 Advanced Informal Nautical

    a short way of saying catamaran, which is a boat with two hulls.

    A shortened form of catamaran, referring to a multi-hulled watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size.

    Example

    We spent the weekend sailing a small cat around the bay.

    Example

    The racing cat proved much faster than the traditional monohulls during the regatta's opening leg.
    • catamaran
  3. 5 computing command (v.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    to show the contents of a computer file on the screen.

    To use the Unix 'cat' utility to concatenate and display the contents of files.

    Example

    You can cat the log file to see the latest errors.

    Example

    The developer decided to cat the configuration files into a single output for easier debugging.
  4. 6 terrible (adj.)
    C2 Proficiency Dialect Informal British English

    very bad or terrible.

    Used to describe something of very poor quality or a disastrous situation.

    Example

    The weather was absolutely cat during our holiday in the west.

    Example

    The traffic on the motorway was cat, causing us to miss the start of the performance.

    Teacher's tip

    This usage is specific to Hiberno-English (Ireland) and is rarely understood outside of that region.
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