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• cat's cradle
  cat's cradle

  noun

  a children's game in which two players alternately stretch a looped string over their fingers in such a way as to produce different designs.
• Cat's Cradle
  Cat's Cradle

  noun

  a novel (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut.

cat's cradle

¹ American  

noun

1. a children's game in which two players alternately stretch a looped string over their fingers in such a way as to produce different designs.

2. the intricate design formed by the string in this game.

3. intricacy; complexity.

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Cat's Cradle ² American  

noun

1. a novel (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut.

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cat's cradle British  

noun

1. a game played by making intricate patterns with a loop of string between the fingers

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Etymology

Origin of cat's cradle

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cat's cradle Cat's Cradle

By the 1880s, a cat’s cradle of submerged telegraph lines wound around the globe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

Up in the bucket of the scissor lift, she maneuvered through her huge cat’s cradle, cinching lines and crocheting them with larger stitched panels to create dense splashes of color among the trees.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

The noodle master in the open kitchen stretches and twists the strings of dough as if mimicking a game of cat’s cradle.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2022

He arrived in Washington in a five-team trade that required more maneuvers than a game of cat’s cradle but landed with a three-year, $62 million contract.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2021

Usually, Meadowlark and I use our before-bed time to talk, brush our teeth together, or play cat’s cradle or card games she invents.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Koepsell believes Cat’s Cradle laid the groundwork for the precautionary principle—the idea that society should exercise restraint when introducing potentially harmful technologies.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 10, 2022

Before he began cooking, he recalls, he was “a very good hippie” and a founder of Cat’s Cradle, an influential local music club that celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2020

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Vonnegut is one of my favourite writers.

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2019

It’s possible the CIA subscribed to the belief that, like ice-nine in Cat’s Cradle, polywater was capable of uncontrollably self-replicating.

From Slate ● Nov. 8, 2013

So we talk about Vonnegut and I tell her that my favorite book of his is Cat’s Cradle.

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements