catnip

American  

[kat-nip] / ˈkæt nɪp /

noun

1. a plant, Nepeta cataria, of the mint family, having egg-shaped leaves containing aromatic oils that are a cat attractant.

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catnip British  

/ ˈkætˌnɪp /

noun

1. another name for catmint

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Etymology

Origin of catnip

An Americanism first recorded in 1705–15; cat ( def. ) + nip, variant of Middle English nep “catnip,” variant of Old English nepte, from Medieval Latin nepta, variant of Latin nepeta

Example Sentences

The booming industry of AI is like catnip to economics researchers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Such a proposal is typically catnip to New York’s charter-school-obsessed billionaires.

From The Wall Street Journal

Jones’s comments are catnip for bullish investors convinced that they have the ability to recognize when the bubble will burst, and therefore they can keep enjoying the rally.

From MarketWatch

If such tales are catnip down under, any doubts over Stokes' fitness will put a further spring in the baggy green step.

From BBC

Losing time sounds like it should slot neatly into a ticking-clock suspense film, but it never achieves liftoff the way “Memento” turned an amnesiac’s daily struggle into catnip.

From Los Angeles Times