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Glite Dictionary
🪢 A rope knot 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 A used person
cat's-paw

cat's-paw

9.9
A person who someone else uses without them knowing
  • noun
  • /ˈkæts pɔ/
  • Informal
translation icon : títere
  • The young assistant was merely a cat's-paw for the unscrupulous manager.

Examples

  • He realized too late that he had been a cat's-paw in their political scheme.

  • She refuses to be anyone’s cat's-paw and blindly follow orders.

  • He was just a cat's-paw in her scheme.

  • Many politicians use a cat's-paw to carry out their plans.

  • He realized too late that he had been a cat's-paw in their political scheme.

  • The young assistant was merely a cat's-paw for the unscrupulous manager.

  • She refuses to be anyone’s cat's-paw and blindly follow orders.

Synonyms

creature
vscat's-paw
  • Offensive
96 7.7

A person controlled by others to do unpleasant or dishonest tasks

stresses control and bad tasks rather than the idea of being unknowingly used
instrument
vscat's-paw
77 5.5

A person or thing used by someone to carry out their plans

refers to a human who is used often without awareness rather than any tool
pawn
vscat's-paw
  • Offensive
69 7.2

A person used by others to do what they want

is used to serve another's aims while often unaware of that use
just a pawn
vscat's-paw
  • Offensive
4 7.7

A person others use to achieve their goals without real power

is seen as being unwittingly used rather than only lacking power

How Used

puppet
  • Offensive
152 5.6
pawn
  • Offensive
69 7.2
cat's-paw
  • Informal
9.9
stooge
  • Offensive
32 7.9
dupe
  • Offensive
14 7.0

Surface Forms

cat's-paw singular
cat's-paws plural

Morphology

cat's-paw = cat + paw (opaque) = cat + paw

This idiomatic sense ('a person used by another') is a figurative extension (from a fable/metaphor) and cannot be derived by a learner from 'cat' + 'paw'.

Etymology

Cat's-paw comes from a story where a monkey tricks a cat into pulling hot chestnuts from the fire so the cat's paw is burned while the monkey eats the nuts. That's why a 'cat's-paw' means a person who is used by someone else to do a risky or dirty job.