cat

n

1.

a person. In the parlance of beatniks, hipsters, etc. Deriving from black musicians' argot, cat was an approving form for a fellow (almost always male - females were chicks). The word is still in use, unself-consciously among American blacks and jazz aficionados, and self-consciously in hip circles in Britain and Australia.

► 'All the cats and chicks/gonna get their kicks/at the hop.' (Lyrics to At the Hop, recorded by Danny and the Juniors, 1959)

2.

a spiteful woman. This sense is now so widespread as to be a colloquialism rather than true slang. It is probably derived from 'catty' rather than vice versa, although cat meant a prostitute until the end of the 19th century.

3.

American

the female genitals. A rarer alternative to pussy.

4.

Australian

a passive male homosexual. This sense of the word probably, although not certainly, originated as an abbreviation of catamite.

5a.

British

a person under the influence of drugs, particularly when rendered agi-tated or erratic. In this sense the term is said to be a contracted form of paracat.

5b.

British

someone craving a drug or drugs. A synonym of cretin. A term used by young street-gang mem-bers in London since around 2000.