cat flea
- noun
- /kæt fli/
:
pulga de gato
- The veterinarian found a cat flea infestation on the stray kitten.
Examples
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To control cat flea populations, regular pet grooming is recommended.
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The cat flea can quickly infest a cat's fur, causing severe itching and discomfort.
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Despite its name, the cat flea often bites dogs and even humans.
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The cat flea jumped onto the sofa.
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My dog has caught cat fleas from the neighbor's pet.
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To prevent cat fleas, it's important to regularly treat your pets and clean your home.
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After noticing that my cat was scratching a lot, I discovered a few cat fleas hopping around in its fur.
Synonyms
202
1.0
A small insect without wings that jumps and drinks the blood of animals like cats and dogs
A small insect that lives on cats and dogs and bites them, making them itchy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a flea that infests cats' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'cat' and 'flea' with a straightforward noun–noun compound structure. This is a common, literal compounding pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Cat flea gets its name from a tiny, jumping insect often found in cat fur that bites and feeds on the animal's blood. The picture of a little flea on a cat is an easy memory hook, so the term means 'a small insect that lives on and feeds from cats and sometimes other animals or people'.