catnap

[kat-nap]

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noun

a short, light nap or doze.

verb (used without object), cat·napped, cat·nap·ping.

to doze or sleep lightly.

Origin of catnap

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25; cat + nap¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for catnap

snooze, doze, sleep, siesta

Examples from the Web for catnap

Historical Examples of catnap

There was no yawning and stretching and closing one eye for a catnap about that awakening.
In Pastures Green
Peter McArthur
Dr. Grenfell went to his room to snatch a catnap before the start.
Grenfell: Knight-Errant of the North
Fullerton Waldo
Sometimes when I get here a little early I take a catnap myself.
The Six Fingers of Time
Raphael Aloysius Lafferty
He fought bravely against his seasickness and took the key for a time while Jack stole a catnap.
The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner
Wilbur Lawton

British Dictionary definitions for catnap

catnap

noun

a short sleep or doze

verb -naps, -napping or -napped

(intr) to sleep or doze for a short time or intermittently

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

Word Origin and History for catnap

also cat-nap, cat's nap, by 1823, from cat (n.) + nap (n.). A nap such as a cat takes. As a verb from 1859.