'Cat's-paw' definitions:
Definition of 'cat's-paw'
From: WordNet
noun
A person used by another to gain an end [syn: instrument, pawn, cat's-paw]
noun
A hitch in the middle of rope that has two eyes into which tackle can be hooked
Definition of 'Cat's-paw'
From: GCIDE
- Cat's-paw \Cat's"-paw`\, n.
- 1. (Naut.) (a) A light transitory air which ruffles the surface of the water during a calm, or the ripples made by such a puff of air. (b) A particular hitch or turn in the bight of a rope, into which a tackle may be hooked. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A dupe; a tool; one who, or that which, is used by another as an instrument to a accomplish his purposes. [1913 Webster]
- Note: In this sense the term refers to the fable of the monkey using the cat's paw to draw the roasting chestnuts out of the fire. [1913 Webster]