cat-hole, n.
Forms: 1 catthola, 7 cat's-hole, 7– cat-hole.
† 1. The hole or den of the wild cat. Obs.
| 854 Chart. æthelwolf in Cod. Dipl. V. 105 Of ðam wogan hlince on ða catthola; of ðan cattholan on Wenbeorhᵹe. |
2. A hole in a wall, door, etc., large enough to let a cat through.
| a 1625 Fletcher Mad Lover iii. ii, Is there ne'er a cat-hole Where I may creep through? 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 145 (Jam.) ‘He has left the key in the cat hole’ to signify that a man has run away from his creditors. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 120 A large round ball..which rolled along the floor of the room until it came to a cat-hole in the door. |
3. Naut. One of the two holes at the stern of the ship, through which a cable or hawser can be passed for steadying or heaving the ship astern, etc.
| a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 346/1 Cat-holes are over the Ports in the Gun-Room, right with the Capstain, to heave the Ship a stern by a Cable, or Hause. |
4. A deep pool in a river.
| 1883 Century Mag. 378 He seated himself at the edge of a deep pool, or ‘cat-hole’. |