cat's eye

American  

[kats-ahy] / ˈkætsˌaɪ /

Or cat's-eye

noun

plural

cat's eyes, cat's-eyes

1. any of certain gems having a chatoyant luster, especially chrysoberyl.

2. a playing marble marked with eyelike concentric circles.

3. cat eye.

---

cat's-eye British  

noun

1. any of a group of gemstones, esp a greenish-yellow variety of chrysoberyl, that reflect a streak of light when cut in a rounded unfaceted shape

2. Also called: ataata.  a grazing marine gastropod, Turbo smaragdus , of New Zealand waters

---

Etymology

Origin of cat's eye

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

Light enters the eye through the cornea, the round, transparent surface of the cat’s eye.

From National Geographic • Jan. 2, 2024

The bright, sweetish, clear liqueur is the color of a cat’s eye, and it hits the tongue like a fairy spell, otherworldly and arcane, floral, grassy and herbaceously vibrant.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 6, 2022

As a strange sound comes in over the telephone line and radio, Faye expresses her concern with a furrowed brow and quizzical looks behind her cat's eye glasses.

From Salon • Dec. 16, 2020

In Baldwin’s book, the story is positioned at cat’s eye level, a little like the perspective in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

From The Guardian • Jun. 25, 2019

I looked at the lavender, cat’s eye glasses.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen