Etymology

cathead

cat·head
C3A1T1H4E1A1D2

Today it means: A heavy piece of timber projecting somewhat horizontally from each side of the bow of a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured when not used, from its stock end. Full definition →

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The story

The noun is derived from cat + head. Sense 1.1 (“heavy piece of timber projecting from a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured”) is from the fact that such a timber traditionally had a cat or lion’s head carved on its end. Sense 4 (“ellipsis of cathead biscuit”) is apparently from the fact that the biscuit is similar in size to a cat’s head. The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.