cat's-paw

American  

[kats-paw] / ˈkætsˌpɔ /

Or catspaw

noun

1. a person used to serve the purposes of another; tool.

2. Nautical.

   1. a hitch made in the bight of a rope so that two eyes are formed to hold the hook of one block of a tackle.

   2. a light breeze that ruffles the surface of the water over a comparatively small area.

   3. the small area ruffled by such a breeze.

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cat's-paw British  

noun

1. a person used by another as a tool; dupe

2. nautical a hitch in the form of two loops, or eyes, in the bight of a line, used for attaching it to a hook

3. a pattern of ripples on the surface of water caused by a light wind

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cat's paw Idioms  

1. A dupe or tool for another, a sucker, as in You always try to make a cat's paw of me, but I refuse to do any more of your work. This term alludes to a very old tale about a monkey that persuades a cat to pull chestnuts out of the fire so as to avoid burning its own paws. The story dates from the 16th century and versions of it (some with a dog) exist in many languages.

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Etymology

Origin of cat's-paw

First recorded in 1760–70; in allusion to the fable Le Singe et le Chat “The Monkey and the Cat,” by Jean de La Fontaine, in which the monkey, trying to save its own paw, uses the paw of a cat to retrieve roasted chestnuts out of a fire

Example Sentences

The Tesla board, therefore, has once again behaved as Musk’s cat’s-paw.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2024

But it must begin with so-far-absent strategic analysis that includes keeping us from being a cat’s-paw for others’ ambitions.

From Washington Post • Oct. 25, 2016

His cat's-paw presented itself in the shape of Millais.

From The Guardian • Mar. 29, 2013

Richard Condon's gothic novel Winter Kills and Oliver Stone's film JFK have suggested the story makes a better myth if Lee Harvey Oswald were a cat's-paw instead of a gnat who changed history.

From Time Magazine Archive

At first everyone who held a cat's-paw invitation wanted to be the one to give up his gift, but I did not want that.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg