cat-and-dog
Americanadjective
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continuously or unceasingly vicious and destructive.
cat-and-dog competition.
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Slang. (of a security) highly speculative and of questionable value.
Etymology
Origin of cat-and-dog
First recorded in 1570–80
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.
“If you want to see a cat-and-dog fight, just let someone make a move on us,” Mr. Spoor said that June.
From Washington Post
Now they lead a cat-and-dog life, Stimulating in the harassed life of the King because of his fellow feeling for poor Ubum.
From Time Magazine Archive
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There was no time to change into better clothes, so I pulled my big wool coat over my cat-and-dog pajamas, and we tiptoed out of the house, careful not to make too much sound.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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He and his interesting spouse had evidently lived a cat-and-dog life throughout the three years of their marriage, but the countercharges brought against him broke down completely.
From The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories by Gissing, George
Skippy, whose relations with the opposite sex were of the cat-and-dog variety, solemnly raised his hand.
From Skippy Bedelle His Sentimental Progress From the Urchin to the Complete Man of the World by Fuhr, Ernest
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.