Pronunciation: ' kats- ˌ po ̇
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural cat's-paws
Date: circa 1769
1 : a light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular patches during a calm
2 [from the fable of the monkey that used a cat's paw to draw chestnuts from the fire] : one used by another as a tool : DUPE <the ⋯ government became the cat's-paw for foreign powers ― D. J. Boorstin>
3 : a hitch knot formed with two eyes for attaching a line to a hook ― see KNOT illustration