1. Home
  2. Scrabble Dictionary. Word Meaning and Points

Cat in Scrabble Dictionary

Lookup Word Points and Definitions

What does cat mean? Is cat a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is cat worth? cat how many points in Words With Friends? What does cat mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for cat

See how to calculate how many points for cat.

Is cat a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word cat is a Scrabble US word. The word cat is worth 5 points in Scrabble:

C3A1T1

Is cat a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word cat is a Scrabble UK word and has 5 points:

C3A1T1

Is cat a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word cat is a Words With Friends word. The word cat is worth 6 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

C4A1T1

Our tools

Valid words made from Cat

You can make 4 words from 'cat' in our Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

3 letters words from 'cat'

ACT 5CAT 5

2 letters words from 'cat'

AT 2TA 2

All 3 letters words made out of cat

cat act cta tca atc tac

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word cat. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in cat.

Definitions and meaning of cat

cat

Pronunciation

  • (US, UK) enPR: kăt, IPA(key): /kæt/, [kʰæt], [kʰæt̚]
  • (UK) IPA(key): /kat/
  • Rhymes: -æt
  • Homophones: Kat, khat, qat

Etymology 1

From Middle English cat, catte, from Old English catt (“male cat”), catte (“female cat”), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Alternative forms

  • catte (obsolete)

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. An animal of the family Felidae:
    Synonym: felid
    1. A domesticated species (Felis catus) or subspecies (Felis silvestris catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet. [from 8thc.]
      • At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
      Synonyms: puss, pussy, malkin, kitty, pussy-cat, grimalkin; see also Thesaurus:cat
    2. Any similar animal of the family Felidae, which includes lions, tigers, bobcats, etc.
      • 1985 January, George Laycock, "Our American Lion", in Boy Scouts of America, Boys' Life, 28.
        If you should someday round a corner on the hiking trail and come face to face with a mountain lion, you would probably never forget the mighty cat.
  2. A person:
    1. (offensive) A spiteful or angry woman. [from early 13thc.]
      • 1835 September, anonymous, "The Pigs", in The New-England Magazine, Vol. 9, 156.
        But, ere one rapid moon its tale has told, / He finds his prize — a cat — a slut — a scold.
      Synonym: bitch
    2. An enthusiast or player of jazz.
    3. (slang) A person (usually male).
      • 1973 December, "Books Noted", discussing A Dialogue (by James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni), in Black World, Johnson Publishing Company, 77.
        BALDWIN: That's what we were talking about before. And by the way, you did not have to tell me that you think your father is a groovy cat; I knew that.
      Synonyms: bloke, chap, cove, dude, fellow, fella, guy
    4. (slang) A prostitute. [from at least early 15thc.]
  3. (nautical) A strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship.
  4. (chiefly nautical) Short form of cat-o'-nine-tails.
  5. (archaic) A sturdy merchant sailing vessel (now only in "catboat").
  6. (archaic, uncountable) The game of "trap and ball" (also called "cat and dog").
    1. The trap of the game of "trap and ball".
  7. (archaic) The pointed piece of wood that is struck in the game of tipcat.
  8. (slang, vulgar, African-American Vernacular) A vagina, a vulva; the female external genitalia.
  9. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.) with six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.
  10. (historical) A wheeled shelter, used in the Middle Ages as a siege weapon to allow assailants to approach enemy defences.
    Synonyms: tortoise, Welsh cat
Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:cat, Thesaurus:man.

  • (any member of the suborder (sometimes superfamily) Feliformia or Feloidea): feliform ("cat-like" carnivoran), feloid (compare Caniformia, Canoidea)
  • (any member of the subfamily Felinae, genera Puma, Acinonyx, Lynx, Leopardus, and Felis)): feline cat, a feline
  • (any member of the subfamily Pantherinae, genera Panthera, Uncia and Neofelis): pantherine cat, a pantherine
  • (technically, all members of the genus Panthera): panther (i.e. tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard), (narrow sense) panther (i.e. black panther)
  • (any member of the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, genera Smilodon, Homotherium, Miomachairodus, etc.): Smilodontini, Machairodontini (Homotherini), Metailurini, "saber-toothed cat" (saber-tooth)
Hyponyms
  • (domestic species): housecat, malkin, kitten, mouser, tomcat
Derived terms
Translations

See cat/translations § Noun.

Verb

cat (third-person singular simple present cats, present participle catting, simple past and past participle catted)

  1. (nautical, transitive) To hoist (the anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead.
    • 1922, Francis Lynde, Pirates' Hope, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, page 226:
      The anchors were catted at the bows of the yacht …
  2. (nautical, transitive) To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.
  3. (slang) To vomit.
  4. To go wandering at night.
  5. To gossip in a catty manner.
Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. Abbreviation of catamaran.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of catenate.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (computing) A program and command in Unix that reads one or more files and directs their content to the standard output.

Verb

cat (third-person singular simple present cats, present participle catting, simple past and past participle catted)

  1. (computing, transitive) To apply the cat command to (one or more files).
  2. (computing, slang) To dump large amounts of data on (an unprepared target) usually with no intention of browsing it carefully.

Etymology 4

Possibly a shortened form of catastrophic.

Adjective

cat (not comparable)

  1. (Ireland, informal) Terrible, disastrous.
Usage notes

This usage is common in speech but rarely appears in writing.

Etymology 5

Shortened from methcathinone.

Noun

cat (uncountable)

  1. (slang) A street name of the drug methcathinone.

Etymology 6

Shortened from catapult.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (military, naval) A catapult.

Etymology 7

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. Abbreviation of category.

Etymology 8

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. Abbreviation of catfish.
    • 1916, M. Shults, "Fishing for Yellow Cat in the Brazos", in Field and Stream, vol. 21, 478.
      Fishing for cat is probably, up to a certain stage, the least exciting of all similar sports.

Etymology 9

Abbreviation of caterpillar.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (slang) Any of a variety of earth-moving machines. (from their manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.)
  2. A caterpillar drive vehicle (a ground vehicle which uses caterpillar tracks), especially tractors, trucks, minibuses, and snow groomers.

Etymology 10

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (automotive) Clipping of catalytic converter.

References

Anagrams

  • A. C. T., A.C.T., ACT, ATC, Act., CTA, TAC, TCA, act, act., tac

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay cat, from Min Nan 漆 (chhat), from Middle Chinese 漆 (tsit).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈt͡ʃat̚]
  • Hyphenation: cat

Noun

cat (first-person possessive catku, second-person possessive catmu, third-person possessive catnya)

  1. paint (substance)

Affixed terms

Compounds

Further reading

  • “cat” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Alternative forms

  • cut (Cois Fharraige)

Etymology

From Old Irish catt, from Latin cattus.

Pronunciation

  • (Munster, Aran) IPA(key): /kɑt̪ˠ/
  • (Mayo, Ulster) IPA(key): /kat̪ˠ/
  • (Cois Fharraige) IPA(key): /kʊt̪ˠ/ (as if spelled cut)

Noun

cat m (genitive singular cait, nominative plural cait)

  1. cat (domestic feline; member of the Felidae)

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

Further reading

  • "cat" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
  • “cat” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1st ed., 1904, by Patrick S. Dinneen, page 121.
  • Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “catt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  • Entries containing “cat” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
  • Entries containing “cat” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Malay

Etymology

From Min Nan 漆 (chhat), from Middle Chinese 漆 (tsit).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃat/
  • Rhymes: -t͡ʃat, -at

Noun

cat (Jawi spelling چت‎, informal 1st possessive catku, impolite 2nd possessive catmu, 3rd possessive catnya)

  1. paint (substance)

Affixed terms

  • bercat
  • mengecat (active): to paint
    • dicat (passive): to be painted
  • catan: painting (an artwork in the form of a painted picture)
  • pengecatan: the action of applying paint to something (e.g. a surface, etc.)
  • pengecat: painter (a person whose job is paining buildings)

Further reading

  • “cat” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • catte

Etymology

From Old English catt, catte; this is in turn from Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kat/

Noun

cat (plural cattes)

  1. cat (feline)

Synonyms

  • badde

Descendants

  • English: cat
  • Scots: cat
  • Yola: kaudès (plural)

References

  • “cat, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norman

Etymology

From Old Northern French cat (variant of Old French chat) from Late Latin cattus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ka/

Noun

cat m (plural cats, feminine catte)

  1. cat
    • c. 1830, George Métivier, ‘Lamentations de Damaris’:
      Où'est donc qu'j'iron, mé et mes puches / Ma catte, et l'reste de l'écu?
    • 2006, Peggy Collenette, ‘D'la gâche de Guernési’, P'tites Lures Guernésiaises, Cromwell Press 2006, page 20:
      Ils d'visirent pour enne haeure, mais la Louise était pas chagrinaïe au tour sa pâte, pasqué a savait que le cat était à gardaïr la pâte caoude. (They talked for an hour, but Louise was not worried about her dough, because she knew that the cat was keeping the dough warm.)
  2. (Jersey) common dab (Limanda limanda)

Derived terms

  • catchiéthe (“cat-flap”)

Old French

Noun

cat m (oblique plural caz or catz, nominative singular caz or catz, nominative plural cat)

  1. (Picardy, Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of chat

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قات‎ (kat).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kat/
  • Rhymes: -at

Noun

cat n (plural caturi)

  1. (dated) floor (storey)
    • 1892, Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, Mr. Vucea:
      Mi-aduc bine aminte că unul sărea de la al cincilea cat, și c-o mână își ținea pălăria. Grozav îi era de pălărie!
      I remember well that one was jumping from the fifth floor, and was holding his hat with one hand. That proud was he of the hat!

Declension

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish catt, borrowed from Late Latin cattus. Cognates include Irish cat and Manx kayt.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kʰaʰt̪/

Noun

cat m (genitive singular cait, plural cait)

  1. cat (Felis catus)

Declension

Derived terms

  • clòimh-chat

Mutation


Source: wiktionary.org
  • to vomit.
    (source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)