catty

comparative cattier · superlative cattiest

1. informalliterallyResembling or characteristic of a cat.

   catty eyes

   1 more example

   I heard a catty shriek.

   Synonyms: catlike, catly, cattish, feline

2. broadlyinformalWith subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset (particularly in interactions between women).

   The fact is, Mr Carrados, Gertrude is a misfire. It was the surprise of her life (if I said "disappointment" you'd think me catty) when Mark married me, and she didn't set out to be pleasant to the interloper.

   1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

   1 more example

   “So leave your umbrellas at home 'cause we're gonna be drier than my favorite varietal of white wine, pinot gris.” “Hmm. Interesting. According to my research, precipitation is a-coming.” “So Harry's wrong?” “I don't want to be a catty bitch, but kind of, yeah.” “Meow, Ham.”

   2025 August 14, Asha Michelle Wilson, “Anchor Ham Adventure” (7:51 from the start), in The Great North, season 5, episode 19, spoken by Ham Tobin (Paul Rust)

   Synonyms: bitchy, cattish, malicious, nasty, snide, spiteful

plural catties · plural cattys · alternative cattee · alternative kati · alternative obsolete katti · alternative obsolete katty

1. informalA (unit of) weight used in China which is metricated in Mainland China as exactly 0.5 kg, and approximately 0.6 kg for other places.

   Transparent yellow pieces are the best; the price is from eight to fourteen dollars per catty, according to size and quality.

   1847, Robert Montgomery Martin, China; Political, Commercial, and Social, volume 2, James Madden, page 124

   4 more examples

   16 Mess, make a Tale, which here is 20 s. English, 5 Tale make a Bancal, a weight so called, and 20 Bancal make a Catty, another weight.

   1699, Captain William Dampier, A new voyage round the world, Volume 1

   In China, festivals are important occasions, when edibles and other gifts are presented and exchanged. In the few years of its existence, the factory has made it a practice to present at various festival times to each worker 10 dumplings, ½ catty of "mid-Autumn cake," ¼ catty of dried plums, ½ catty of sugar, [and] 10 cents for making "la-pa" porridge, a food to be taken on the eighth day of the last month in the year.

   1951, Wilbert E. Moore, “The Search for New Opportunities”, in Industrialization and Labor: Social Aspects of Economic Development, New York: Russell & Russell, sourced from Sung-Ho Lin, Factory Workers in Tangku (Peiping: Social Research Department, China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, 1928), p. 33., published 1965, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 85–86

   The 130,000 mou of cotton fields in (Pailichou) district of Chihchiang County have produced 17 million catties of cotton seed, and 2.5 million catties of ginned cotton have been sold to the state.

   1971 October 21 [1971 October 11], “Hupeh Cotton Production”, in Daily Report: People's Republic of China, volume I, number 204, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Wuhan Hupeh Provincial Service, translation of original in Mandarin, →ISSN, →OCLC, People's Republic of China: Central-South Region, page D 3

   To limit team members' consumption, it issued food stamps to the villagers and allowed everyone to eat one catty of rice a day.

   2009, Huaiyin Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform: A Micro-History, 1948-2008, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 94

plural catties

1. informalslangA catapult.

   “Give me your slingshot, and I'll let you have it back after school this afternoon,” she said firmly. […] I stuck the 'catty' into my back pocket and ran outside to meet the others.

   2009, Sheldon Arensen, The Carjackers, page 43

   1 more example

   You could also keep a tennis ball and a frog, or a catapult and a frog, but not all three together. I know because I tried it. The frog got a bit squashed between the ball and the handle of the catty.

   2017, David Cooper, Christiaan Barnard: The Surgeon Who Dared

1. UScolloquialThe borough of Catasauqua in Pennsylvania.