catgut

plural catguts

1. countableA cord of great toughness made from the intestines of animals, especially of sheep, used for strings of musical instruments, racquets, sutures etc.

   Eventually they carved small paddles to strike the ball and refined this implement with a mesh of catgut.

   1971, Will Grimsley, Julius David Heldman, Tennis: Its History, People and Events, Prentice-Hall, →ISBN, page 3

   2 more examples

   The thing about Proust is his combination of the utmost sensibility with the utmost tenacity. He searches out these butterfly shades to the last grain. He is as tough as catgut & as evanescent as a butterfly's bloom.

   1953, Virginia Woolf, “Tuesday, April 8th”, in Leonard Woolf, editor, A Writer's Diary, page 71

   The absorbable suture, catgut, is made of collagen derived from sheep intestinal submucosa. It is usually treated with a chromic salt to increase its strength and is crosslinked to retard resorption. Such treatment extends the life of catgut suture from 3–7 days up to 20–40 days.

   2007 July 23, Joon Park, R. S. Lakes, Biomaterials: An Introduction, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 292

2. uncountableThe material from which such cords are made.
3. uncountableA sort of linen or canvas, with wide interstices.
4. uncountableTephrosia virginiana (goat's rue, devil's shoestring).