cat's eye
- noun
- /kæts aɪ/
- Specialized
:
ojo de gato
- She decided to buy a stunning cat's eye pendant for her sister's birthday, drawn by its unique luminous band.
Examples
-
The jewelry shop had an exquisite selection of gemstones, including a cat's eye that shimmered beautifully under the light.
-
My marbles were making a heavy lump in my pocket, and I felt around for my favorite, the lucky cat's eye with the chip in the center.
Fiction book (2000) -
Will the Sahib toss to decide whether he shall give for this beautiful cat's-eye two pounds or five?
Blog text (22) -
Jewels are to be had at astonishing rates—cat's-eyes and moonstones being sold carelessly by the handful.
Blog text (22) -
At the gem exhibition, I was captivated by a rare cat's eye stone that exhibited a striking reflection resembling a feline's gaze.
Surface Forms
Morphology
cat's + eye
The phrase evokes a resemblance to a cat's eye (shiny/reflective), so a learner who knows 'cat' and 'eye' can plausibly infer it names something that looks or shines like an eye. However, the specific conventional referents (a road reflector or a particular type of marble) are lexicalized senses that are not fully predictable from the parts alone, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
Cat's eye comes from a thin, bright band of light that seems to move across a polished stone, like a real cat's pupil when it catches light. So, the name now means a gem that shows this eye-like shine.
