Search results
- Dictionarycat's paw
noun
- 1. a person who is used by another to carry out an unpleasant or dangerous task: "he was merely a cat's paw of older and cleverer men"
Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
The meaning of CAT'S-PAW is a light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular patches during a calm. How to use cat's-paw in a sentence.
A person who is used by another to achieve some end, especially in a duplicitous or cynical manner. Taken from a fable about a monkey who tricks a cat into using his paw to retrieve chestnuts from a fire. The phrase is sometimes spelled without a hyphen.
1. a person used by another to do dangerous, distasteful, or unlawful work; dupe. from the tale of the monkey who used the cat's foot to rake the chestnuts out of the fire. 2. a light breeze that ripples the surface of water. 3. Nautical. a hitch in the bight of a rope, used to form two loops through which a hook can be passed.
Cat's-paw definition: a person used to serve the purposes of another; tool. . See examples of CAT'S-PAW used in a sentence.
Meaning 1: From a fable, perhaps of Aesop 's, in which a crafty monkey uses flattery to convince a cat to pull hot chestnuts from a fire. The cat singes his paw, and the monkey gobbles up the chestnuts leaving none for the cat.
Nautical A knot made by twisting a section of rope to form two adjacent eyes through which a hook is passed, used in hoisting. [ From a fable about a monkey that used a cat's paw to pull chestnuts out of a fire .] American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
5 days ago · Definitions of cat's-paw. noun. a hitch in the middle of rope that has two eyes into which tackle can be hooked. see more. noun. a person used by another to gain an end. synonyms: instrument, pawn.
A dupe or tool for another, a sucker, as in You always try to make a cat's paw of me, but I refuse to do any more of your work. This term alludes to a very old tale about a monkey that persuades a cat to pull chestnuts out of the fire so as to avoid burning its own paws.
You can use "Cat's Paw" to describe a person who is being used by someone else to do their dirty work or carry out their plans. It emphasizes the idea of manipulation and exploitation. For example, if you suspect that a coworker is being used by a corrupt manager to carry out unethical activities, you might say, 'He's just a cat's paw for the ...
Meaning & use. Pronunciation. Forms. Compounds & derived words. Factsheet. What does the noun cat's paw mean? There are five meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun cat's paw. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. cat's paw has developed meanings and uses in subjects including.
