kitty
nounnounnounnounnouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈkɪti//
- Canada//ˈkɪti//
- Canada/[ˈkʰɪɾi]/
- New Zealand/[ˈkʰɘ.ɾiː]/
A young cat; a kitten.
noun
- 1
informalA young cat; a kitten.
He said there was a beast with fangs in the alley, but it turned out to be a cute little kitty.
A pretty young Kitty, / She had that could Purr; / 'Tvvas gameſome and handſome, / And had a rare Furr; […]
Warm kitty, soft kitty, / Little ball of fur, / Sleepy kitty, happy kitty, / Purr! Purr! Purr!
To a child, a cat may look like a moving toy, so it's important to explain how delicate and sensitive a cat's body is from the very start. […] Even how a child picks up and handles the cat can make the kitty begin to fear the very sight of the youngster.
- 2
informalAn adult cat; also (often childish), sometimes in the form Kitty: a pet name for a cat of any age.
Here, kitty kitty! Nice kitty!
- 3
slangSynonym of pussy (“vulva and/or vagina”).
Looking at Lynn's naked body one last time, Mia decided to try something else. She waited for Lynn to bend down to grab her underwear and then came up behind her and began licking her kitty with long, wet strokes.
The way Tariq was licking her kitty had her clutching the sheets.
Evan's tongue was magic. She'd heard most men didn't have the skills to make a girl lose her mind by licking her kitty. But Evan …
Etymology
From kitt(en) + -y (diminutive suffix). Compare Dutch katje (“kitty”). Etymology 1 sense 2 (“vulva and/or vagina”) is probably modelled after the use of pussy to refer to the body part, from the appearance of an unshaven vulva.
noun
- 1
Synonym of jack (“a small, typically white, ball used as the target ball in bowls”).
- 2
slangA pool of money to which card players contribute a portion of their winnings, which is used for paying shared expenses such as the cost of the premises or refreshments; (by extension) any pool of money to which people contribute for shared expenses or other joint purposes; also, any fund of liquid assets set aside for future use.
Your business is busted up, your thousand dollars is gone into the kitty of this corrupt country on that last bluff you made, […]
They told me you always had to come back to the band with your hand open so they could see what tip you got and you put that in the kitty.
- 3
slangSynonym of pot (“a quantity of money available to be won in a round or a game”).
- 4
slangSynonym of widow (“an additional hand of playing cards dealt face-down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder”).
Etymology
Origin uncertain; etymology 2 sense 2 (relating to card games) is possibly from kit (“collection of items”) + -y (diminutive suffix).
noun
- 1
slangA jail, a prison; also, a lockup.
Besides we had a nice tollbooth, / To pull'd down was a pity, / And in its stead we've got—forsooth— / A vile pernicious kitty. / […] / Like convicts in a condemn'd cell, / They're fed on bread and water; / 'Midst winter's cold and putrid smell, / Thus tort'ring human nature.
Etymology
Origin uncertain, possibly a clipping of kid(cote) (“lockup, prison”) (UK, dialectal, obsolete) + -y (diminutive suffix).
noun
- 1
In full kitty-wren: synonym of wren (“any bird of the family Troglodytidae; specifically the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)”).
[T]he male wrens (Troglodytes) of North America, build "cock-nests," to roost in, like the males of our distinct Kitty-wrens,—a habit wholly unlike that of any other known bird.
Etymology
From Kitty (“diminutive of the female given name Katherine”).
noun
- 1
archaicSynonym of kittiwake (“either of two small gulls in the genus Rissa of the family Laridae; specifically (Ireland, UK), the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)”).
In the parish of Gaurie three curiosities upon the coast are exhibited to travellers: 1st, A perpendicular rock, of very great extent, full of shelves, and possessed by thousands of birds called kittywakes. […] Some people are fond of eating the young kitties; but the shooting of them is a favourite diversion every year.
Etymology
Clipping of kitt(iwake) + -y (diminutive suffix).
Forms
- plural
- kitties