catfight

English

Alternative forms

• cat fight

Etymology

From cat +‎ fight. So named because, like cats, scratching is a common defensive tactic among women, as opposed to a fistfight between men.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

catfight (plural catfights)

1. A fight between cats.

   The caterwauling from the catfight in the back yard was awful; I couldn't get to sleep until it was over.

2. (slang) A fight or bickering, especially between women.

   Synonyms: hairpulling contest, (Australia) scragfight

   Nancy and Sheila got into a catfight when Nancy's boyfriend cheated on her with Sheila.

   • 1980, Louise Bernikow, Among Women, New York: Harmony Books, page 207:

     Female conflict, seen in this kind of structure, works conveniently—it takes note of aggression in women and sets it against other women. Men are spared. The audience applauds. Everyone loves a catfight.

   • 2005, Maureen Dowd, Are Men Necessary?, →ISBN, page 310:

     There was a time when I would get furious and fire off an angry note if someone cast me in a catfight with a woman colleague. I assumed that catfights would fade as women progressed. They seemed so retro.

Related terms

• (fight, especially between women): catty

Translations

fight between women — see also bitch fight

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 打架 (zh) (dǎjià) (between men or women), 撕逼 (zh) (sībī) (between women; vulgar)

• Finnish: kissatappelu (fi)
• French: crêpage de chignons (fr) m
• German: Zickenkrieg (de) m, Zickenkampf (de) m
• Japanese: キャットファイト (kyattofaito)
• Polish: bójka pomiędzy kobietami f
• Spanish: pelea de gatas f

See also

• (acrimonious fight, especially between women): handbags, handbags at dawn, the handbags come out, meow!
• dogfight

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “cat fight n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang