cat-and-dog

[kat-n-dawg, -dog]

adjective

1. continuously or unceasingly vicious and destructive.

   cat-and-dog competition.

2. Slang.,  (of a security) highly speculative and of questionable value.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cat-and-dog¹

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

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.

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“If you want to see a cat-and-dog fight, just let someone make a move on us,” Mr. Spoor said that June.

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“So I’m going to buy shares for $20 while you’re selling them to these cat-and-dog investors for $15?”

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Cat-and-dog, used attributively for quarrelsome.—ns.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

War in the Argonne Forest was a cat-and-dog fight, and Germany was destined to play the cat's usual r�le, though she clawed her hardest.

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Related Words

• belligerent 
• cantankerous 
• combative 
• contentious 
• fractious 
• litigious 
• petulant 
• tempestuous 
• turbulent 
• unruly