View source for cat's-paw

{{also|catspaw|cat's paw}}
==English==
{{wikipedia}}

===Alternative forms===
* {{l|en|cat's paw}}, {{l|en|catspaw}}

===Etymology===
From {{m|en|cat}} + {{m|en|paw}}. In most senses, due to a resemblance of shape. In its senses as a pawn to another's interests or analysis, variant of earlier {{m|en|cat's-foot}}, derived from European tales of a monkey (attested as early as 1456<ref>Jean Miélot (1456). ''Proverbes''.</ref> but sometimes misattributed to the 16th-century monkey of [[w:Pope Julius II|Pope Julius II]]) who used a sleeping puppy<ref>[[w:János Zsámboky|János Zsámboky]] (1564). ''Emblemata'', [https://books.google.com.hk/books?pg=PA110&id=aw4vWBEkiaAC pp. 110–111].</ref> or cat's foot to rake hot chestnuts out of a fire, taken as a metaphor for rulers' ill use of their subjects. Now usually understood in light of [[w:Jean de La Fontaine|Jean de La Fontaine]]'s 1679 fable of the "[[Wikipedia:The Monkey and the Cat|The Monkey and the Cat]]" (sometimes misattributed to [[w:Aesop|Aesop]]), in which the monkey fools the cat into removing the chestnuts through flattery and promises of shared reward. The cat removes the chestnuts one by one, burning his paw while the monkey eats each in turn. A maid then enters and chases them both away. La Fontaine's moral concludes that princes should not endure real losses for mere flattery from their king.

===Noun===
{{en-noun|s|cats'-paws}}

# A [[paw]] of a [[cat]].
# {{lb|en|figuratively}} [[someone|Someone]] who [[act]]s in [[another]]'s [[interest]], {{lb|en|properly}} [[unknowingly]] or through [[trickery]].
#: {{syn|en|tool|dupe<!--lit hyper, fig syn-->}}
#* {{quote-book|en|year=1622|translator=James Mabbe|author=Mateo Alemán|title=The Rogue|volume=II|page=167
|passage=To take the Cat by the [[foot]]e, and therewith rake the [[coals|coales]] out of the [[oven|Ouen]].}}
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1657|author=Michael Hawke|title=Killing is Murder and No Murder|page=3|passage=These he useth as the Monkey did the '''Cats paw''', to scrape the nuts out of the fire.}}
#* '''1836''', Charles Richardson, ''A New Dictionary of the English Language'', s.v. "Cat":
#*: '''''Cat's-paw''''', common in vulgar speech, but not in writing.
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1939|author=w:Raymond Chandler|title=w:The Big Sleep|page=243|passage=Eddie Mars was behind Geiger, protecting him and using him for a '''cat's-paw'''.}}
#* {{quote-text|en|year=2022|author=Jonathan V. Last|passage=And for a third thing, Johnson never seemed like he was intent on blowing up NATO because he was a Russian '''cat’s paw'''.}}
# {{lb|en|nautical}} A [[minor]] [[breeze]] that [[ripple]]s the [[surface]] of a [[body]] of [[water]].
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1769|author=William Falconer|title=An Universal Dictionary of the Marine|passage='''''Cats-paw''''', a light air of wind perceived... by the impression made on the surface of the sea, which it sweeps very lightly, and then decays.}}
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1845|author=w:Thomas Hood|title=The Captain’s Cow
|passage=No, not a '''cat’s paw''' anywhere:<br>Hold up your finger in the air<br>You could n’t feel a breath;<br>For why, in yonder storm that burst,<br>The wind that blew so hard at first<br>Had blown itself to death.}}
#* {{RQ:Stevenson Treasure Island|text=“Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a '''cat’s paw''', trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like a garding on that old ship.”}}
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1930|author=Arthur Ransome|title=Swallows and Amazons|passage=There was very little wind, though now and again a '''catspaw''' hurrying from the south helped them on their way and darkened the smooth small waves.}}
# {{lb|en|nautical}} A [[twist]]ing [[variant]] of the [[lark's-foot]] [[hitch]] which [[form]]s [[two]] [[small]] [[bight]]s [[use]]d to [[hook]] a [[pair]] of [[tackle]]s to a [[rope]].<!--attested 1794-->
#* {{quote-book|en|year=1840|author=w:Richard Henry Dana|title=w:Two Years Before the Mast|chapter=xxxiii|page=125
|passage=...when the mate came to shake the '''catspaw''' out of the [[down-haul]]...}}
# {{lb|en|figuratively|uncommon}} [[someone|Someone]] or [[something]] that [[come]]s [[down]] [[quickly]] upon a [[victim]] in the [[manner]] of a [[cat]]'s [[paw]].
#* {{RQ:Keats Lamia|poem=Isabella|stanza=XVII|page=57|passage=[T]hese [[Florentine]]s [...] / In hungry pride and gainful cowardice, / [...] / Quick '''cat's-paws''' on the generous [[stray-away]].}}
# {{lb|en|US|_|carpentry}} A [[small]] [[crowbar]] with a [[handle]] at a [[right angle]] to a [[blade]] with a [[V-shaped]] [[notch]], [[principally]] [[use]]d by [[carpenter]]s to [[remove]] [[nail]]s.
#* {{quote-journal|en|date=November 10 1954|author=U.S. Patent Office|journal=Official Gazette|page=321
|passage=Filed Dec. 13, 1952. '''Cat's Paw'''. For Hand Tools for Pulling Nails and Spikes.}}
# {{lb|en|historical|_|weaponry|torture}} A [[metal]] [[set]] of [[claw]]s [[worn]] over the [[hand]] or [[wield]]ed in the [[hand]] [[use]]d to [[remove]] [[skin]] and [[flesh]].
# {{lb|en|US|_|law}} A [[supervisor]] whose [[reliance]] on a [[subordinate]]'s [[analysis]] is so [[complete]] as to [[render]] [[him]] or [[her]] [[liable]] for the [[subordinate]]'s [[animus]] or [[other]] [[misconduct]] towards a [[third]] [[employee]].
# Any of [[several]] [[species]] of [[North America]]n [[freshwater]] [[mussel]]s of the [[genus]] {{taxlink|Epioblasma|genus}}, [[especially]] {{taxlink|Epioblasma obliquata|species|E. obliquata}}.
# Any of [[several]] [[species]] of [[Australia]]n [[bloodwort]]s of the [[genus]] {{taxlink|Anigozanthos|genus}}, [[especially]] {{taxlink|Anigozanthos humilis|species|A. humilis}}.

====Synonyms====
* {{sense|one unwittingly used for another's purposes}} {{l|en|dupe}}
* {{sense|carpenter's tool}} {{l|en|cat's claw}}
* {{sense|American legal term}} {{l|en|rubber stamp}}
* {{sense|Australian bloodworts}} {{l|en|kangaroo paw}}

====Hypernyms====
* {{sense|one used for another's purposes}} {{l|en|pawn}}, {{l|en|puppet}}, {{l|en|tool}}
* {{sense|carpenter's tool}} {{l|en|nail puller}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|paw of a cat}}
* Finnish: {{t|fi|[[kissan]] [[käpälä]]}}, {{t|fi|[[kissan]] [[tassu]]}}
* German: {{t+|de|Katzenpfote|f}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|someone who acts in another's interest}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|工具人}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|apuri}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|eszköz|alt=eszköze|lit=his/her/its instrument}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|nautical: minor breeze}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|tuulenvire}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|nautical: variant of the lark's-foot hitch}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|someone who comes down upon a victim}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|small crowbar for pulling nails}}
* Finnish: {{t|fi|naulanvedin}}
* German: {{t|de|Kuhfuß|m}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|гвоздодёр|m}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|historical: torture tool}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|law: supervisor liable for subordinate's misconduct}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|mussel of the genus ''Epioblasma''}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|bloodwort of the genus ''Anigozanthos''}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|kenguruntassu}}
{{trans-bottom}}

===See also===
* {{l|en|monkey's paw}}, an unrelated metaphor from a separate story
* {{l|en|cat's eye}}, a feature of gemstones
* {{l|en|monkey's fist}}, an unrelated type of knot
* {{l|en|flying monkeys}}, in popular psychology, people acting on behalf of a narcissist
* {{l|en|denailer}}, a power tool used to remove nails
* {{l|en|dogsbody}}, a person who does menial work
* {{l|en|pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire}}

===References===
<references/>

===Further reading===
* "cat's paw{{nbsp}}| cat's-paw, ''n.''" in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20170624225402/http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/CatsPaw.aspx Cat's Paw]" in Lloyd Duhaime's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120410044431/http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary.aspx Duhaime's Law Dictionary]'' (2017).
* "[https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=mRAbBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 Cat's Paw]" in Nigette M. Spikes's ''[https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=mRAbBgAAQBAJ Dictionary of Torture]'' (2014), Bloomington: Abbott Press.
* "[http://www.medievality.com/the-tickler.html The Spanish Tickler]" on Joaquin de la Sierra's ''[http://www.medievality.com/ Medieval Times & Castles]'' (2008).

{{C|en|Bivalves|Commelinids|People|Tools}}