| cat | (noun) feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats | Synonyms: true cat |
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| (noun) any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild | Synonyms: big cat |
| (noun) a whip with nine knotted cords | Synonyms: cat-o'-nine-tails |
| (noun) a large tracked vehicle that is propelled by two endless metal belts; frequently used for moving earth in construction and farm work | Synonyms: Caterpillar |
| (noun) the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant | Synonyms: African tea, Arabian tea, kat, khat, qat, quat |
| (noun) a spiteful woman gossip | - |
| (noun) an informal term for a youth or man | Synonyms: bozo, guy, hombre, sod |
| catabiosis | (noun) normal aging of cells | - |
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| catabolism | (noun) breakdown in living organisms of more complex substances into simpler ones together with release of energy | Synonyms: destructive metabolism, dissimilation, katabolism |
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| catacaustic | (noun) a caustic curve formed by light reflecting from a curved surface. | - |
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| catachresis | (noun) strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as `blatant' to mean `flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: `blind mouths') | - |
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| cataclysm | (noun) an event resulting in great loss and misfortune | Synonyms: calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy |
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| (noun) a sudden violent change in the earth's surface | Synonyms: catastrophe |
| catacomb | (noun) an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried (as in ancient Rome) | - |
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| catafalque | (noun) a decorated bier on which a coffin rests in state during a funeral | - |
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| catalase | (noun) enzyme found in most plant and animal cells that functions as an oxidative catalyst; decomposes hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water | - |
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| catalectic | (noun) (prosody) a line of verse that lacks a syllable in the last metrical foot | - |
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| catalepsy | (noun) a trancelike state with loss of voluntary motion and failure to react to stimuli | - |
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| cataleptic | (noun) a person suffering from catalepsy | - |
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| catalexis | (noun) the absence of a syllable in the last foot of a line or verse | - |
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| catalog | (noun) a book or pamphlet containing an enumeration of things | Synonyms: catalogue |
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| (noun) a complete list of things; usually arranged systematically | Synonyms: catalogue |
| cataloger | (noun) a librarian who classifies publications according to a categorial system | Synonyms: cataloguer |
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| catalogue | (noun) a book or pamphlet containing an enumeration of things | Synonyms: catalog |
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| (noun) a complete list of things; usually arranged systematically | Synonyms: catalog |
| cataloguer | (noun) a librarian who classifies publications according to a categorial system | Synonyms: cataloger |
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| catalpa | (noun) tree of the genus Catalpa with large leaves and white flowers followed by long slender pods | Synonyms: Indian bean |
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| catalufa | (noun) brightly colored carnivorous fish of western Atlantic and West Indies waters | Synonyms: Priacanthus arenatus |
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| catalysis | (noun) acceleration of a chemical reaction induced by the presence of material that is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction | Synonyms: contact action |
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| catalyst | (noun) something that causes an important event to happen | - |
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| (noun) (chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected | Synonyms: accelerator |
| catamaran | (noun) a boat with two parallel hulls held together by single deck | - |
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| catamenia | (noun) the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause | Synonyms: flow, menses, menstruation, menstruum, period |
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| catamite | (noun) a boy who submits to a sexual relationship with a man | - |
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| catamount | (noun) large American feline resembling a lion | Synonyms: cougar, Felis concolor, mountain lion, painter, panther, puma |
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| (noun) short-tailed wildcats with usually tufted ears; valued for their fur | Synonyms: lynx |
| catamountain | (noun) bushy-tailed wildcat of Europe that resembles the domestic cat and is regarded as the ancestor of the domestic cat | Synonyms: European wildcat, Felis silvestris |
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| catananche | (noun) any of several plants of the genus Catananche having long-stalked heads of blue or yellow flowers | - |
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| cataphasia | (noun) a speech disorder in which the same word is repeated several times in succession | - |
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| cataphatism | (noun) the religious belief that God has given enough clues to be known to humans positively and affirmatively (e.g., God created Adam `in his own image') | - |
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| cataphoresis | (noun) the motion of charged particles in a colloid under the influence of an electric field; particles with a positive charge go to the cathode and negative to the anode | Synonyms: dielectrolysis, electrophoresis, ionophoresis |
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| cataphract | (noun) armor that protects the wearer's whole body | Synonyms: body armor, body armour, coat of mail, suit of armor, suit of armour |
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| cataphyll | (noun) a reduced or scarcely developed leaf at the start of a plant's life (i.e., cotyledons) or in the early stages of leaf development | - |
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| cataplasia | (noun) (biology) degenerative reversion of cells or tissue to a less differentiated or more primitive form | - |
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| cataplasm | (noun) a medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc. | Synonyms: plaster, poultice |
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| catapult | (noun) an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles | - |
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| (noun) a plaything consisting of a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms; used to propel small stones | Synonyms: sling, slingshot |
| (noun) a device that launches aircraft from a warship | Synonyms: launcher |
| cataract | (noun) a large waterfall; violent rush of water over a precipice | - |
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| (noun) an eye disease that involves the clouding or opacification of the natural lens of the eye | - |
| catarrh | (noun) inflammation of the nose and throat with increased production of mucus | - |
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| catarrhine | (noun) of Africa or Arabia or Asia; having nonprehensile tails and nostrils close together | Synonyms: Old World monkey |
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| catastrophe | (noun) an event resulting in great loss and misfortune | Synonyms: calamity, cataclysm, disaster, tragedy |
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| (noun) a sudden violent change in the earth's surface | Synonyms: cataclysm |
| (noun) a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune | Synonyms: disaster |
| catathymia | (noun) A state in which mental processes are under the control of the emotions. | - |
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| catatonia | (noun) a form of schizophrenia characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed stuporous state for long periods; the catatonia may give way to short periods of extreme excitement | Synonyms: catatonic schizophrenia, catatonic type schizophrenia |
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| (noun) extreme tonus; muscular rigidity; a common symptom in catatonic schizophrenia | - |
| catbird | (noun) North American songbird whose call resembles a cat's mewing | Synonyms: Dumetella carolinensis, gray catbird, grey catbird |
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| (noun) any of various birds of the Australian region whose males build ornamented structures resembling bowers in order to attract females | Synonyms: bowerbird |
| catboat | (noun) a sailboat with a single mast set far forward | - |
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| catbrier | (noun) a very prickly woody vine of the eastern United States growing in tangled masses having tough round stems with shiny leathery leaves and small greenish flowers followed by clusters of inedible shiny black berries | Synonyms: briar, brier, bullbrier, greenbrier, horse-brier, horse brier, Smilax rotundifolia |
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| catcall | (noun) a cry expressing disapproval | - |
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| catch | (noun) the act of catching an object with the hands | Synonyms: grab, snap, snatch |
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| (noun) the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal) | Synonyms: apprehension, arrest, collar, pinch, taking into custody |
| (noun) a cooperative game in which a ball is passed back and forth | - |
| (noun) a fastener that fastens or locks a door or window | - |
| (noun) a restraint that checks the motion of something | Synonyms: stop |
| (noun) a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident | Synonyms: gimmick |
| (noun) a break or check in the voice (usually a sign of strong emotion) | - |
| (noun) anything that is caught (especially if it is worth catching) | - |
| (noun) a person regarded as a good matrimonial prospect | Synonyms: match |
| (noun) the quantity that was caught | Synonyms: haul |
| catchall | (noun) an enclosure or receptacle for odds and ends | - |
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| catcher | (noun) the position on a baseball team of the player who is stationed behind home plate and who catches the balls that the pitcher throws | - |
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| (noun) (baseball) the person who plays the position of catcher | Synonyms: backstop |
| catchfly | (noun) mostly perennial herbs with sticky stems that catch insects; widespread in north temperate zone | Synonyms: lychnis |
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| (noun) any plant of the genus Silene | Synonyms: campion, silene |
| catching | (noun) (baseball) playing the position of catcher on a baseball team | - |
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| (noun) the act of detecting something; catching sight of something | Synonyms: detection, espial, spotting, spying |
| (noun) becoming infected | Synonyms: contracting |
| catchment | (noun) a structure in which water is collected (especially a natural drainage area) | - |
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| catchphrase | (noun) a phrase that has become a catchword | Synonyms: catch phrase |
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| catchweed | (noun) annual having the stem beset with curved prickles; North America and Europe and Asia | Synonyms: cleavers, clivers, Galium aparine, goose grass, spring cleavers |
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| catchword | (noun) a favorite saying of a group, organization or individual | Synonyms: motto, shibboleth, slogan |
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| (noun) a word printed at the top of the page of a dictionary or other reference book to indicate the first or last item on that page | Synonyms: guide word, guideword |
| catclaw | (noun) erect shrub with small if any spines having racemes of white to yellow flowers followed by curved pointed pods and black shiny seeds; West Indies and Florida | Synonyms: black bead, cat's-claw, Pithecellobium unguis-cati |
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| catechesis | (noun) oral religious instruction (as before baptism or confirmation) | - |
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| catechin | (noun) a tannic acid that is extracted from black catechu as a white crystalline substance | - |
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| catechism | (noun) an elementary book summarizing the principles of a Christian religion; written as questions and answers | - |
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| (noun) a series of questions put to an individual (such as a political candidate) to elicit their views | - |
| catechist | (noun) one who instructs catechumens in preparation for baptism (especially one using a catechism) | - |
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| catecholamine | (noun) any of a group of chemicals including epinephrine and norepinephrine that are produced in the medulla of the adrenal gland | - |
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| catechu | (noun) East Indian spiny tree having twice-pinnate leaves and yellow flowers followed by flat pods; source of black catechu | Synonyms: Acacia catechu, Jerusalem thorn |
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| (noun) extract of the heartwood of Acacia catechu used for dyeing and tanning and preserving fishnets and sails; formerly used medicinally | Synonyms: black catechu |
| catechumen | (noun) a new convert being taught the principles of Christianity by a catechist | Synonyms: neophyte |
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| categorem | (noun) a categorematic expression; a term capable of standing alone as the subject or predicate of a logical proposition | Synonyms: categoreme |
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| categoreme | (noun) a categorematic expression; a term capable of standing alone as the subject or predicate of a logical proposition | Synonyms: categorem |
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| categorisation | (noun) the act of distributing things into classes or categories of the same type | Synonyms: assortment, categorization, classification, compartmentalisation, compartmentalization |
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| (noun) the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories | Synonyms: categorization, classification, sorting |
| (noun) a group of people or things arranged by class or category | Synonyms: categorization, classification |
| categorization | (noun) the act of distributing things into classes or categories of the same type | Synonyms: assortment, categorisation, classification, compartmentalisation, compartmentalization |
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| (noun) the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories | Synonyms: categorisation, classification, sorting |
| (noun) a group of people or things arranged by class or category | Synonyms: categorisation, classification |
| category | (noun) a general concept that marks divisions or coordinations in a conceptual scheme | - |
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| (noun) a collection of things sharing a common attribute | Synonyms: class, family |
| catena | (noun) a chain of connected ideas or passages or objects so arranged that each member is closely related to the preceding and following members (especially a series of patristic comments elucidating Christian dogma) | - |
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| catenary | (noun) the curve theoretically assumed by a perfectly flexible and inextensible cord of uniform density and cross section hanging freely from two fixed points | - |
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| caterer | (noun) someone who provides food and service (as for a party) | - |
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| catering | (noun) providing food and services | - |
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| caterpillar | (noun) a wormlike and often brightly colored and hairy or spiny larva of a butterfly or moth | - |
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| caterwaul | (noun) the yowling sound made by a cat in heat | - |
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| catfish | (noun) any of numerous mostly freshwater bottom-living fishes of Eurasia and North America with barbels like whiskers around the mouth | Synonyms: siluriform fish |
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| (noun) large ferocious northern deep-sea food fishes with strong teeth and no pelvic fins | Synonyms: wolf fish, wolffish |
| (noun) flesh of scaleless food fish of the southern United States; often farmed | Synonyms: mudcat |
| catgut | (noun) a strong cord made from the intestines of sheep and used in surgery | Synonyms: gut |
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| (noun) perennial subshrub of eastern North America having downy leaves yellowish and rose flowers and; source of rotenone | Synonyms: goat's rue, Tephrosia virginiana, wild sweet pea |
| catharsis | (noun) (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions | Synonyms: abreaction, katharsis |
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| (noun) purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels | Synonyms: katharsis, purgation |
| cathartic | (noun) a purging medicine; stimulates evacuation of the bowels | Synonyms: aperient, physic, purgative |
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| cathartid | (noun) large birds of prey superficially similar to Old World vultures | Synonyms: New World vulture |
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| cathedra | (noun) a throne that is the official chair of a bishop | Synonyms: bishop's throne |
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| cathedral | (noun) any large and important church | - |
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| (noun) the principal Christian church building of a bishop's diocese | Synonyms: duomo |
| catheter | (noun) a thin flexible tube inserted into the body to permit introduction or withdrawal of fluids or to keep the passageway open | - |
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| catheterisation | (noun) the operation of introducing a catheter into the body | Synonyms: catheterization |
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| catheterization | (noun) the operation of introducing a catheter into the body | Synonyms: catheterisation |
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| cathexis | (noun) (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object | Synonyms: charge |
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| cathode | (noun) a negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device | - |
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| (noun) the positively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current | - |
| catholicity | (noun) the quality of being universal; existing everywhere | Synonyms: universality |
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| catholicon | (noun) hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists | Synonyms: cure-all, nostrum, panacea |
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| cathouse | (noun) a building where prostitutes are available | Synonyms: bagnio, bawdyhouse, bordello, brothel, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, sporting house, whorehouse |
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| cation | (noun) a positively charged ion | - |
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| catkin | (noun) a cylindrical spikelike inflorescence | Synonyms: ament |
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| catling | (noun) a long double-edged knife used for amputations | - |
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| catmint | (noun) hairy aromatic perennial herb having whorls of small white purple-spotted flowers in a terminal spike; used in the past as a domestic remedy; strongly attractive to cats | Synonyms: catnip, Nepeta cataria |
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| catnap | (noun) sleeping for a short period of time (usually not in bed) | Synonyms: forty winks, light sleep, nap, short sleep, snooze |
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| catnip | (noun) hairy aromatic perennial herb having whorls of small white purple-spotted flowers in a terminal spike; used in the past as a domestic remedy; strongly attractive to cats | Synonyms: catmint, Nepeta cataria |
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| catoptrics | (noun) branch of optics dealing with formation of images by mirrors | - |
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| catostomid | (noun) a cypriniform fish of the family Catostomidae | - |
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| catsup | (noun) thick spicy sauce made from tomatoes | Synonyms: cetchup, ketchup, tomato ketchup |
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| cattail | (noun) tall erect herbs with sword-shaped leaves; cosmopolitan in fresh and salt marshes | - |
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| cattalo | (noun) hardy breed of cattle resulting from crossing domestic cattle with the American buffalo; yields leaner beef than conventional breeds | Synonyms: beefalo |
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| cattie | (noun) any of various units of weight used in southeastern Asia (especially a Chinese measure equal to 500 grams) | Synonyms: catty |
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