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- 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"
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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.
Cat's-paw definition: a person used to serve the purposes of another; tool. . See examples of CAT'S-PAW used in a sentence.
noun. 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.
noun. 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. /ˌkæts ˈpɔ/. IPA guide. 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.
1. a person used by another as a tool; dupe. 2. (Knots) nautical a hitch in the form of two loops, or eyes, in the bight of a line, used for attaching it to a hook. 3. (Physical Geography) a pattern of ripples on the surface of water caused by a light wind.
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.
