catbird seat


Also found in: Dictionary, Wikipedia.

the catbird seat

A powerful position. The phrase likely refers to the catbird's preference for high tree branches (which keep predators at bay). As the CEO's assistant, you are definitely sitting in the catbird seat. I know you were hoping to be elected president over Joe, but, as vice president, you're in the catbird seat if he resigns.
See also: catbird, seat

catbird seat

A situation of advantage or superiority, as in His promotion put Charles in the catbird seat. This term is thought to allude to that noisy bird's habitual high perch. It was popularized in the 1940s by sportscaster Red Barber.
See also: catbird, seat

catbird seat

An enviable position, “sitting pretty.” Catbirds seek the highest limbs of trees on which to perch. The view from on high and the relative safety from predators puts them in an advantageous spot. The term is best known as the title of a James Thurber short story and from radio sportscaster Walter Lanier “Red” Barber's using it while broadcasting baseball games.
See also: catbird, seat
References in periodicals archive ?
Yes, Annie Armstrong Kuster is in the catbird seat in the 2nd.
Your primary day questions answered
It indicates the direction Egypt is taking after Islamists gained power with SCAF sitting pretty in the catbird seat.
Mood indigo
Boy, has it ever changed," he reflected from his well-earned catbird seat.
Meet your first O.D. Glaus Credit Executive of Distinction recipient: Mike Puccinelli, CCE
Markley is in the catbird seat in this very funny tale.
Congratulations to the winner and finalists of the 2011 John Spray Mystery Award
Students at Batley School of Art are hosting the exhibition dubbed Catbird Seat at Dewsbury Museum.
Students put on fine art show
But by picking a quality team early, establishing good terms that will aid your side later in the negotiation, and realizing areas where you may have leverage, you can ensure that, by the time it does get late, you'll be sitting in the catbird seat.
Get an early advantage: the team approach
Then he presents three case studies: ethical invitations in Katherine Ann Porter's "The Grave," invitation to misogyny in James Thurber's "The Catbird Seat," and ethical engagements over time in David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights.
Shaped by stories; the ethical power of narratives
Bill Cray was always in the catbird seat on Evens And Odds as he tracked Prime Exhibit while eying pacesetter Jonny Mudball.
EVENS MONEY WELL SPENT; Sprint supremo Dandy Nicholls makes it a treble
distribution, such as Focus, Mandate and Summit, remain in the catbird seat.
Russian biz steppes up mart energy
For a governor desirous of getting Oregon's landscape "shovel ready" for corporations instead of crops - and with the anti-planning group Oregonians in Action in the catbird seat - the state's pro- development Big Look Task Force came through in spades.
Governor's `new vision' turns a blind eye to environment
56 NATO are going to be sitting in the catbird seat.
The ammo drought
In addition, these optimized processes place a company in the catbird seat when the market trends up because they are prepared to handle significant increase in production without increasing employee count.
CBPA and CEBP are not the same
Still, thanks to the financial crisis, tenants have moved to the catbird seat.
For office landlords, harder to tell who's healthy
When the rest of the world is falling apart, being the one who promises--and guarantees--protection is like being the one in the catbird seat.
Humpty's woes
That leaves Assad in the catbird seat, courted by European and Arab nations and conducting back-channel talks through Turkey with his erstwhile enemy, Israel.
In confidence: a half-hour with Syria's Bashar Assad
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?