cat

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A small domesticated carnivorous mammal (Felis catus), kept as a pet and as catcher of vermin, and existing in a variety of breeds.
• noun Any of various other carnivorous mammals of the family Felidae, including the lion, tiger, leopard, and lynx.
• noun The fur of a domestic cat.
• noun Informal A woman who is regarded as spiteful.
• noun A person, especially a man.
• noun A player or devotee of jazz music.
• noun A cat-o'-nine-tails.
• noun A catfish.
• noun A cathead.
• noun A device for raising an anchor to the cathead.
• noun A catboat.
• noun A catamaran.
• intransitive verb To hoist an anchor to (the cathead).
• intransitive verb To look for sexual partners; have an affair or affairs.
• idiom (let the cat out of the bag) To let a secret be known.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The form of cata- before a vowel.
• noun A domesticated carnivorous quadruped of the family Felidæ and genus Felis, F. domestica.
• noun In general, any digitigrade carnivorous quadruped of the family Felidæ, as the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, etc., especially of the genus Felis, and more particularly one of the smaller species of this genus; and of the short-tailed species of the genus Lynx.
• noun A ferret.
• noun A gossipy, meddlesome woman given to scandal and intrigue.
• noun A catfish.
• noun A whip: a contraction of cat-o'-nine-tails.
• noun A double tripod having six feet: so called because it always lands on its feet, as a cat is proverbially said to do.
• noun In the middle ages, a frame of heavy timber with projecting pins or teeth, hoisted up to the battlements, ready to be dropped upon assailants. Also called prickly cat.
• noun A piece of wood tapering to a point at both ends, used in playing tip-cat.
• noun The game of tip-cat. Also called cat-and-dog.
• noun In faro, the occurrence of two cards of the same denomination out of the last three in the deck.
• noun In coal-mining, a clunchy rock. See clunch.
• noun [Apparently in allusion to the sly and deceitful habits of the cat.] A mess of coarse meal, clay, etc., placed on dovecotes, to allure strangers.
• noun In plastering, that portion of the first rough coat which fills the space between the laths, often projecting at the back, and serving to hold the plaster firmly to the walls.
• noun The salt which crystallizes about stakes placed beneath the holes in the bottom of the troughs in which salt is put to drain.
• noun A ship formed on the Norwegian model, having a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist.
• noun Nautical, a tackle used in hoisting an anchor from the hawse-hole to the cat-head.
• noun In medieval warfare, a machine resembling the pluteus, under the protection of which soldiers worked in sapping walls and fosses.
• noun plural In mining, burnt clay used for tamping.
• noun Same as channel-cat.
• noun An abbreviated form of catamaran.
• To act after the manner of soft clay or mortar in filling crevices.
• An abbreviation of Catalan: [lowercase] of catalogue; of catechism.
• To draw (an anchor) up to the cat-head.
• To fill with soft clay, as the intervals between laths: as, a chimney well catted.
• To fish for catfish.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb (Naut.) To bring to the cathead. See anchor.
• noun (Zoöl.) Any animal belonging to the natural family Felidae, and in particular to the various species of the genera Felis, Panthera, and Lynx. The domestic cat is Felis domestica. The European wild cat (Felis catus) is much larger than the domestic cat. In the United States the name wild cat is commonly applied to the bay lynx (Lynx rufus). The larger felines, such as the lion, tiger, leopard, and cougar, are often referred to as cats, and sometimes as big cats. See wild cat, and tiger cat.
• noun A strong vessel with a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and deep waist. It is employed in the coal and timber trade.
• noun A strong tackle used to draw an anchor up to the cathead of a ship.