one old cat
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of one old cat
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
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.
Barefoot children play one old cat and race their wagons down gently sloping sidewalks.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Here "cat" and "one old cat" render bearable many a wilting hour for the little urchins.
From The Honorable Peter Stirling and What People Thought of Him by Ford, Paul Leicester
In playing "one old cat," if one wanted another to chase the struck balls he would say: "You pig-tail for me, Willie, will you?"
From The "Genius" by Dreiser, Theodore
Scarce, indeed, was I of average skill in any of them except the simplest two,—"bung-ends," and "one old cat."
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 108, October, 1866 by Various
Myself when young did much practise another loved ball game, "one old cat," a local favorite, perhaps a local name.
From Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth by Earle, Alice Morse
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.