ˈhell-cat
[f. hell n. + cat: possibly suggested by Heccat, Hecate.]
An evil or spiteful woman; a furious vixen; a witch.
| a 1605 Middleton Witch ii. ii, The whorson old hellcat would have given me the brain of a cat. 1632 Chapman & Shirley Ball iii. ii, We cannot be too bitter, she's a hell⁓cat. 1837 Marryat Dog-fiend II. i. (L.), A hell-cat, who hates me as she does the devil. |
b. Applied to a man: see quots.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Hell-cat, a very Lewd Rakehelly Fellow. 1845 Disraeli Sybil vi. vi, The Hell⁓cats [Chartist agitators] as they call themselves, halt at every town, and offer fifty pounds for a live policeman. |