"All know what monsters Egypt venerates;
It worships crocodiles, or it adores
The snake-gorged ibis; and sacred ape
Graven in gold is seen ...Whole cities pray
To cats and fishes, or the dog invoke."
Cat.—A metal tripod for holding a plate or Dutch oven before the fire. So called because, in whatever position it is placed, it is supported by the spokes; as it is said a cat will always light on its feet, so the plate-holder will stand firmly in any position. These old brass appliances have now gone out of use and are seldom seen, the new mode of "handing round" not requiring them. Another reason, doubtless, is the lowness of the fire compared with the stove of former years, which was high up in the bygone "parlour grate."
Cat.—A cross old woman was called "a cat"; or to a shrewish, the epithet was applied tauntingly.
"But will you woo this wild cat?"
Taming of the Shrew, Act I., Scene 2.
Cat.—A ship formed on the Norwegian model, having a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist. It is strongly built, from four to six hundred tons' burden, and employed in the coal trade.
Cat.—A strong tackle, or combination of pulleys, to hook and draw in the anchor perpendicularly up to the cat-head of the ship.
Cat.—A small kind of anchor is sometimes called a cat or ketch; by the Dutch, "Kat."
Cat.—"At the edge of the moat, opposite the wooden tower, a strong penthouse, which they called a 'cat,' might be seen stealing towards the curtain, and gradually filling up the moat with facines and rubbish."—Read Cloister and Hearth, chap, xliii. (Davis' "Glossary.")
Catacide.—A cat-killer (Bailey, 1726).