cat (1 chiefly in allusions and proverbs)
1.
domestic
animal
Tp. II. ii. 89
“here is that which will
give language to you, cat”
(very strong drink was said to make a cat
speak),
Ado V. i. 136
“care killed a
cat”
(i.e. for all its nine lives),
MND. I. ii. 32
“a part to tear a cat
in”
(=to rant violently),
Mac. I. vii. 45
“Like the poor cat i'
the adage”
(the cat that would eat fish, but would not
wet her feet),
Ham. V. i. 314
“The cat will
mew.”
2.
civet-cat or musk-cat
AYL. III. ii. 71
“civet is . . . the very
uncleanly flux of a cat,”
Lr. III. iv. 108
“Thou owest . . . the
cat no perfume.”
3.
term of contempt for
a human being
All'sW. IV. iii. 269
“he's a cat to
me,”
297, Cor. IV. ii. 34.
