cat
1. noun, old-fashioned A spiteful, gossipy woman. Oh, don't listen to a thing Mrs. Studebaker says. That crazy old cat just likes to put her nose into other people's business and cause trouble. Mother seems to be getting a reputation in town as another old cat, peddling in nonsense. I never thought Helen would say such awful things about me, but I guess she's become quite a cat in her old age.
2. noun, dated slang A man. A: "You ever hear of Tom Michelson?" B: "The cat who runs the Double Dice bar over on Santa Monica? Yeah, I've heard of him." Who's the cat playing sax with them tonight? I have to say, he's pretty good! Do you know that mysterious-looking cat in the sunglasses? Think he could be a talent scout?
3. verb, dated slang To pursue promiscuous sexual intercourse or activity; to look for sexual partners. She started to suspect that her husband was out catting around while she was at home looking after the kids. No, I don't cat around anymore—I gave that up when I got married. I never had any desire to cat around—I just prefer monogamy.
4. verb, dated slang To retch or vomit. Primarily heard in UK. Something I ate must not have agreed with my stomach, because I started catting everything up about an hour later. The smell of the substance is enough to make you cat. You'll never make it as a doctor if you cat at the sight of blood! You need a much stronger stomach than that.
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