catamount

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English

Etymology

Shortened from catamountain, from cat o' mountain, cat of the mountain.

Pronunciation

Noun

catamount (plural catamounts)

  1. A wild animal of the family Felidae, especially cougar, puma or lynx.
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 4 scene 1
      Go, charge my goblins that they grind their joints
      With dry convulsions; shorten up their sinews
      With aged cramps, and more pinch-spotted make them
      Than pard, or cat o' mountain.
    • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter VIII, in The Understanding Heart:
      Uncle Charley's voice was very soft and there was a weary note in it. “Great snarlin' catamounts, but I'm tired.”

Translations