cat's-paw
English
Alternative forms
- cat's paw
- catspaw
Etymology
Meaning 1: From a fable, perhaps of Aesop's, in which a crafty monkey uses flattery to convince a cat to pull hot chestnuts from a fire. The cat singes his paw, and the monkey gobbles up the chestnuts leaving none for the cat. Meaning 2: Probably due to resemblance in terms of shape.
Noun
cat's-paw (plural cat's-paws or cats'-paws)
- (figuratively) A pawn or dupe; somebody who has been unwittingly tricked into acting in another's interest.
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 243:
- Eddie Mars was behind Geiger, protecting him and using him for a cat's-paw.
- 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford 2004, p. 715:
- A few Republicans lent behind-the-scenes support to this movement, hoping to use it as a cat's-paw to scratch Lincoln from the main party ticket and bring Chase back to life.
- 2007, Clive James, Cultural Amnesia, Picador 2007, p. 793:
- It could be said – there are plenty who say it – that his rejection of the left has made him a cat's paw of the right, but it is a pretty strange right-wing cat's paw who favours the idea of unrestricted illegal immigration into Spain.
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 243:
- A knot of a certain kind resembling a lark’s-foot hitch; see cat's paw for more detailed information.
- A breeze that ruffles patches of a water surface.
- 1907, Robert Chambers, chapter 8, The Younger Set[1]:
- But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat’s-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, …
- 1907, Robert Chambers, chapter 8, The Younger Set[1]:
- A small crowbar.
See also
- monkey’s paw, an unrelated metaphor (due to a short story by W. W. Jacobs)
- cat's-eye, a feature of gemstones
- monkey’s fist, an unrelated type of knot