cat and rat

8.0

A circle game where players join hands and raise them to let a child pass while another catches them

noun

Baby Talk

: gato y rata

In cat and rat, everyone has to quickly raise or lower their hands to help or block the players inside.

Examples

We formed a big circle to start a game of cat and rat.
The children played cat and rat in the schoolyard during recess.
Let's play cat and rat in the park!
The children love to play cat and rat during recess.
The children played cat and rat in the schoolyard during recess.
We formed a big circle to start a game of cat and rat.
In cat and rat, everyone has to quickly raise or lower their hands to help or block the players inside.

Synonyms

cat and mouse

vscat and rat

Baby Talk

2 5.0

A children's game where players hold hands in a circle and try to catch someone inside

emphasizes lifting or lowering hands to let someone pass while another catches

Surface Forms

cat and rat singular

cat and rats plural

Morphology

cat + and + rat

The constituents 'cat' + 'and' + 'rat' evoke a predator–prey pairing so a B1 learner can plausibly infer a chasing or play interaction (similar to cross-linguistic 'cat and mouse' games), making part of the meaning accessible. However, the specific rules and format of the children's game (circle, hand-raising, roles of 'cat' and 'rat') are not derivable from the words alone, so full comprehension requires prior exposure.

Etymology

Cat and rat comes from the simple picture of a cat chasing a rat. Players form a circle, join hands and lift or lower them to make tunnels for the rat to run through while the cat tries to catch them, so the name describes the chasing game.