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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Discover More

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

Example Sentences

When the conversation is flowing effortlessly about a niche show you both like, you can’t help but grin like a Cheshire cat.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2023

Arsenal's Mead last featured for England in November 2022 and said she had been "smiling like a Cheshire cat" since arriving to camp at St George's Park.

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2023

That attitude makes him equally fabulous and terrifying, very much like the Cheshire cat.

From Salon • Dec. 31, 2022

He singled out the Cheshire cat, whose strategy was endurance and persistence, not direction.

From Washington Post • Sep. 9, 2020

Now the cosmic Cheshire cat has vanished; only its gravitational grin remains.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan