Cheshire cat

American  

noun

1. a constantly grinning cat in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

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idioms

1. grin like a Cheshire cat, to smile or grin inscrutably.

Cheshire cat Cultural  

1. A cat with an enormous grin encountered by Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. The cat tends to disappear, leaving only its smile hanging in the air.

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“Smiling like a Cheshire cat” refers to anyone with a conspicuous and long-lasting smile.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Cheshire cat

Like the steward, he is grinning like a Cheshire cat today.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2025

"The corners of his mouth split into a Cheshire cat smile. Waving a stack of documents, he moves towards me, like a wolf closing in on its prey."

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2023

Since both Manchester City players live in Cheshire, when England entered the tournament quarterfinals unbeaten, the skinny gray-and-black-striped kitten seemed destined to become a Cheshire cat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2022

Enter the scares and shrieks and anxious laughs, and the dependably indispensable Colman Domingo, who pops up with a Cheshire cat grin.

From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2021

I turned out the light and tried to drop back to sleep, but Joan's face floated before me, bodiless and smiling, like the face of the Cheshire cat.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath