Search results
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.
Cat's-paw definition, a person used to serve the purposes of another; tool. See more.
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 ...
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.
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.
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. see more.
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.
1. A person used by another as a dupe or tool. 2. A light breeze that ruffles small areas of a water surface. 3. 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 .]
Definitions of 'cat's-paw' 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.
