cathead

[ kat-hed ]

/ ˈkætˌhɛd /

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noun Nautical.

a projecting timber or metal beam to which an anchor is hoisted and secured.

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Origin of cathead

First recorded in 1620–30; cat + head

Words nearby cathead

catharine wheel, cat-harpin, catharsis, cathartic, Cathay, cathead, cathect, cathectic, cathedra, cathedral, cathedral ceiling

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use cathead in a sentence

This time he struck the ship just under the weather cathead.
South American Fights and Fighters|Cyrus Townsend Brady
Having no pilot on board, two midshipmen were stationed at each cathead to look out.
How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves|W.H.G. Kingston
His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly stretched, and reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe|Edgar Allan Poe
Glad enough was I to hear the heavy plunge of one of the bowers, as it fell from the cathead into the water.
Afloat And Ashore|James Fenimore Cooper

The whale crashed into the bows of the Essex, staving them completely in directly under the cathead.
Bark Kathleen Sunk By A Whale|Thomas H. Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for cathead

cathead

/ (ˈkætˌhɛd) /

noun

a fitting at the bow of a vessel for securing the anchor when raised

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