alley cat

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See synonyms for alley cat on Thesaurus.com

noun

a homeless, usually mongrel, cat that scavenges for food in alleys, streets, etc.

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Origin of alley cat

First recorded in 1900–05

Words nearby alley cat

alleviation, alleviative, alleviator, all-expense, alley, alley cat, alley cropping, all eyes, alley gate, alley light, alley-oop

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use alley cat in a sentence

The alley cat and her kittens would have mugged him already.
Up To a Point: Robber Barons Make Way For Robber Nerds|P. J. O’Rourke|August 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rat is tough, a 15-year-old “alley cat” version of her beautiful mother, Vanessa.
A Writer's International Wanderings|Susan Salter Reynolds|May 9, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Her sorrow was like sympathy for a mangy alley cat which she could not take home.
The Job|Sinclair Lewis
One cold rainy day when my father was a little boy, he met an old alley cat on his street.
My Father's Dragon|Ruth Stiles Gannett

The snow-white Angora was there as well as the mangy alley cat.
Billy Whiskers' Adventures|Frances Trego Montgomery

British Dictionary definitions for alley cat

alley cat

noun

a homeless cat that roams in back streets

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with alley cat

alley cat

A promiscuous woman; also, a person of loose morals. For example, She's constantly picking up men in bars—a real alley cat. This idiom transfers a stray cat that frequents alleys in search of food to a woman of easy virtue, especially a prostitute seeking customers. [Slang; early 1900s]