catty

catty
I. noun (plural catties) Etymology: Malay kati Date: 1598 any of various units of weight of China and southeast Asia varying around 1 1/3 pounds (about 600 grams); also a standard Chinese unit equal to 1.1023 pounds (500 grams) II. adjective (cattier; -est) Date: 1886 1. resembling a cat; especially slyly spiteful ; malicious <
made several catty comments
>
2. of or relating to a cat • cattily adverbcattiness noun

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Catty — is the English word for a traditional Chinese unit of mass called a jīn (Chinese characters: 斤) in Mandarin Chinese (or kan in Cantonese, kin or kun in Minnan and kin in Japanese) used across East Asia, commonly found in wet markets and in… …   Wikipedia

  • Catty — Cat ty, n. [Malay kat[=i]. See {Caddy}.] An East Indian Weight of 11/3 pounds. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Catty — Catty, 1) Gewicht in China, Japan u. einigen ostindischen Inseln, zwischen 1 u. 2 Zollpfund schwer; 2) (Cattos), Rechnungsmünze auf Java = 44 Thlr. 13 Sgr …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Catty — (engl.), ostasiatisches Gewicht, s. Kätti …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Catty — (Mehrzahl Catties), s. Kätti …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Catty — Catty, Catto, Rechnungsmünze auf Java = 44 Thlr. 13 Sgr. 31/2 Pfg. = 64 fl. 48 kr. C. M …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • catty — 1886, devious and spiteful, from CAT (Cf. cat) + Y (Cf. y) (2). Slightly earlier was cattish (1883) …   Etymology dictionary

  • catty — [adj] nasty, malicious backbiting, evil, hateful, ill natured, malevolent, mean, rancorous, spiteful, venomous, vicious, wicked; concept 404 Ant. kind, nice, pleasant …   New thesaurus

  • catty — ► ADJECTIVE (cattier, cattiest) ▪ spiteful. DERIVATIVES cattily adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • catty — catty1 [kat′ē] adj. cattier, cattiest 1. of or like a cat 2. spiteful, mean, malicious, etc. cattily adv. cattiness n. catty2 [kat′ē] n. pl. catties [Malay kātī: see …   English World dictionary

  • catty — [[t]kæ̱ti[/t]] cattier, cattiest ADJ GRADED If someone, especially a woman or girl, is being catty, they are being unpleasant and unkind. [INFORMAL] His mother was catty, status conscious and loud. ...catty remarks. Syn: bitchy …   English dictionary

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