kitty

¹ American  

[kit-ee] / ˈkɪt i /

noun

plural

kitties

1. a kitten.

2. a pet name for a cat.

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kitty ² American  

[kit-ee] / ˈkɪt i /

noun

plural

kitties

1. 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.

2. Cards.

   1. a pool into which players in a game put a certain amount of their winnings for some special purpose, as to pay for refreshments.

   2. the pot, or a special pot, for the collection of forfeits or payments for certain high hands.

   3. widow.

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Kitty ³ American  

[kit-ee] / ˈkɪt i /

noun

1. a female given name, form of Katherine or Catherine.

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kitty ¹ British  

/ ˈkɪtɪ /

noun

1. the pool of bets in certain gambling games

2. any shared fund of money, etc

3. (in bowls) the jack

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kitty ² British  

/ ˈkɪtɪ /

noun

1. a diminutive or affectionate name for a kitten cat 1

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Etymology

Origin of kitty¹

First recorded in 1710–20; kitt(en) + -y ²

Origin of kitty²

First recorded in 1815–25; kit ¹ + -y ²

Example Sentences

“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

Related Words

• kitten