Animal Idioms about CATS and Their Meanings in English

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There are lots of English idioms and expressions based on animals – most especially the cat. Let’s learn idioms about cats in English.

CAT Idioms in English

List of Idioms about Cat

• Has the cat got your tongue?
• Put the cat among the pigeons
• Like the cat that got the cream
• Let the cat out of the bag
• Fight like cat and dog
• When the cat’s away, the mice will play
• Fat cat
• Curiosity killed the cat
• Not have a cat in hell’s chance
• Look like something the cat dragged in
• No room to swing a cat
• A cat nap
• A copycat
• Rain cats and dogs
• There’s more than one way to skin a cat
• A scaredy-cat
• Cat’s cradle
• Play cat and mouse
• Grin like a Cheshire cat
• Cool cat
• Cat on a hot tin roof
• A cat has nine lives
•  A cat’s eye
• Even a cat can look at a king/queen
• A cat in gloves catches no mice
• Bell the cat

Cat Idioms with Their Meanings

1. Has the cat got your tongue?

• Meaning: Why are you not saying anything?

2. Put the cat among the pigeons

• Meaning: Say or do something that causes trouble or controversy

3. Like the cat that got the cream

• Meaning: Looking particularly self-satisfied, often to the annoyance of others

4. Let the cat out of the bag

• Meaning: Mistakingly allow s secret to be known

5. Fight like cat and dog

• Meaning: Continually arguing with each other

6. When the cat’s away, the mice will play

• Meaning: When the person of authority is away, people will behave badly

7. Fat cat

• Meaning: A negative description of a rich and powerful person

8. Curiosity killed the cat

• Meaning: Being too curious can get you into trouble

9. Not have a cat in hell’s chance

• Meaning: When some something has no chance of success, it doesn’t have a cat in hell’s chance.

10. Look like something the cat dragged in

• Meaning: When someone looks very untidy and messy, they look like something the cat dragged in.

11. No room to swing a cat

• Meaning: Very small, not big enough

12. A cat nap

• Meaning: A short sleep during the day

13. A copycat

• Meaning: Someone or something that copies, imitates, mimics, or follows the lead of another. Often used by children for other children who copy exactly what they do or say.

14. Rain cats and dogs

• Meaning: Rain very heavily

15. There’s more than one way to skin a cat

• Meaning: There’s more than one way of achieving a certain goal.

16. A scaredy-cat

• Meaning: Someone who is excessively scared or afraid.

17. Cat’s cradle

• Meaning: The popular string and fingers game is called “cat’s cradle”. But it’s used to mean “messy”.

18. Play cat and mouse

• Meaning: Trying to trick someone into making a mistake so you can defeat them.

19. Grin like a Cheshire cat

• Meaning: Smile a lot. This comes from Alice in Wonderland, when Alice meets a “Cheshire cat” who keeps on disappearing, but only its grin remains.

20. Cool cat

• Meaning: Someone who has the respect of their peers in a young, casual way.

21. Cat on a hot tin roof

• Meaning: Be extremely nervous

22. A cat has nine lives

• Meaning: Cats seem to get away with dangerous things

23. A cat’s eye

• Meaning: A reflector set into a road to warn drivers of where the lane markers are.

24. Even a cat can look at a king/queen

• Meaning: I have every right to do this.

25. A cat in gloves catches no mice

• Meaning: You can’t get what you need if you’re too careful.

26. Bell the cat

• Meaning: The expression refers to any task that is difficult or impossible to achieve.

Idioms about CATS | Image