Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

calico cat

American  

noun

  1. a domestic cat, especially a female one, of variegated black, yellow, and white coloring.


Etymology

Origin of calico cat

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Bingo: They were ruddy turnstones, sandpipers whose tricolor markings are sometimes compared to those of a calico cat.

From New York Times Jun. 4, 2023

Mitchell made some drawings of their dining room: the view from the window, a basket of apples, flowers in a glass vase, her calico cat lounging on a pillow.

From The New Yorker Oct. 16, 2019

It was a fraction the size of the Zeng family house, but it was cozy and immaculate with wall-to-wall carpeting, shelves of books, most of them Christian, and a calico cat sprawled underfoot.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 8, 2019

And so I have decided not to make matters worse by purchasing one for my calico cat, despite “significant experiential learning” from her studies in ornithology.

From Slate Jul. 3, 2014

She’s got a calico cat that sometimes lives with them—it comes and goes.

From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training