kitty
1 Americannoun
plural
kitties-
a pool or reserve of money, often collected from a number of persons or sources and designated for a particular purpose specified by the contributors.
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Cards.
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a pool into which players in a game put a certain amount of their winnings for some special purpose, as to pay for refreshments.
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the pot, or a special pot, for the collection of forfeits or payments for certain high hands.
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noun
noun
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the pool of bets in certain gambling games
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any shared fund of money, etc
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(in bowls) the jack
noun
Etymology
Origin of kitty1
First recorded in 1710–20; kitt(en) + -y 2
Origin of kitty2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I would walk around with this little kitty in my hand, and of course people would look at it, like what is that?”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
Spending cash from the kitty is clean, clear and less dangerous if things go wrong.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 31, 2025
Another woman, who we're calling Jemima, says on a recent hen weekend, she had to contribute to a central kitty for bars - even though she doesn't drink.
From BBC • Sep. 14, 2025
“I think Maureen is a genius for having a kitty cat birthday party, because, look!”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 16, 2025
“Look at the kitty playing with the ball,” the girl’s mother had said.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.