Cat vs Jack - What's the difference?

In nautical terms the difference between cat and jack

is that cat is to flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails while jack is a bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead, to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal shrouds; also called jack crosstree.

In archaic terms the difference between cat and jack

is that cat is a sturdy merchant sailing vessel now only in "catboat" while jack is a knave (a servant or later, a deceitful man).

In lang=en terms the difference between cat and jack

is that cat is a piece of heavy machinery, such as a backhoe, of the Caterpillar brand while jack is jack Daniel's, a brand of American whiskey.

As an adjective cat

is terrible, disastrous.

As an acronym CAT

is centre for Alternative Technology.

cat

English

(wikipedia cat)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) , (etyl) (m).

Noun

(en noun)

An animal of the family Felidae :

*2011 , Karl Kruszelnicki, Brain Food (ISBN 1466828129), page 53:

*:Mammals need two genes to make the taste receptor for sugar. Studies in various cats (tigers, cheetahs and domestic cats) showed that one of these genes has mutated and no longer works.

#A domesticated subspecies (Felis silvestris catus ) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet.

#*:At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat —in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

#Any similar animal of the family Felidae, which includes lions, tigers, bobcats, etc.

A catfish.

*1913 , (Willa Cather), :

*:She missed the fish diet of her own country, and twice every summer she sent the boys to the river, twenty miles to the southward, to fish for channel cat .

A person.

#(lb) A spiteful or angry woman.

#An enthusiast or player of jazz.

#*2008 , (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), "Hold on to Yourself":

#*:I turn on the radio / There's some cat on the saxophone / Laying down a litany of excuses

#(lb) A person (usually male).

#(lb) A prostitute.

(lb) A strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship.

(Short form of) cat-o'-nine-tails.

*1839 , testimony by , recorded in the Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York (Assembly No. 335), page 44:

*:he used this '''cat''' on one other man, and then destroyed the ' cat wound with wire.

(lb) Any of a variety of earth-moving machines. (from their manufacturer )

(lb) A sturdy merchant sailing vessel (now only in "catboat").

The game of "trap and ball" (also called "cat and dog").

#The trap of the game of "trap and ball".

A vagina, a vulva; the female external genitalia.

*1969 , Iceberg Slim, Pimp: The Story of My Life (Holloway House Publishing):

*:"What the hell, so this broad's got a prematurely-gray cat ."

*2005 , Carolyn Chambers Sanders, Sins & Secrets (Hachette Digital):

*:As she came up, she tried to put her cat in his face for some licking.

*2007 , Franklin White, Money for Good (Simon and Schuster), page 64:

*:I had a notion to walk over to her, rip her apron off, sling her housecoat open and put my finger inside her cat to see if she was wet or freshly fucked because the dream I had earlier was beginning to really annoy me.

A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.) with six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.

Synonyms

* ) * (any member of the family Felidae) felid * feline cat, a feline * pantherine cat, a pantherine * panther (i.e. tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard), (narrow sense) panther (i.e. black panther) * , "saber-toothed cat" (saber-tooth) * (domestic species) puss, pussy, malkin, kitty, pussy-cat, grimalkin * (man) bloke (qualifier), chap (British), cove (UK), dude, fellow, fella, guy * (spiteful woman) bitch * See also * See also

Hyponyms

* (domestic species) housecat, malkin, kitten, mouser, tomcat

Derived terms

* a cat may look at a king * all cats are grey in the dark, all cats are grey by night * alley cat * African golden cat * Andean cat * Asiatic golden cat * bay cat * black-footed cat * bobcat * barn cat * Burmese cat, Burmese * cat and mouse * cat box * cat food * cat that ate the canary, cat that swallowed the canary * cat in the meal-tub * cat in the sack * catbird * cat-block * cat-burglar * catcall * cat-eyed * caterwaul * catfish * cat-flap * cat-footed * cat got someone's tongue, cat got your tongue? * catgut * cat-harpin * cathead, cat-head * cat-house * cat-ice * catkin * cat-lap * cat-lick * catlike * catling * cat litter * catloaf * catly * catmint * cat-nap, cat nap, catnap * catnip * cat-o'-nine-tails * cat's cradle * cat's eye * cat's meat * cat's meow * cat's pajamas, the cat's pyjamas * cat's paw * cat scratch fever * cat state * cat's-tail * cat's whisker * cat's whiskers * cattish * catshit * cat-trap * catty * Caturday * catwalk, cat-walk * cat-witted * Chinese desert cat * copycat * curiosity killed the cat * domestic cat * fat cat * feral cat * fight like cats and dogs * fishing cat * flat-headed cat * Geoffroy's cat * housecat * it would make a cat laugh * jungle cat * lead a cat-and-dog life * leopard cat * let the cat out of the bag * like a cat in a strange garret * like a cat on hot bricks * like a cat on a hot tin roof * like herding cats * like the cat that got the cream * little spotted cat * lolcat * Maine Coon cat, Maine Coon * Manx cat, Manx * marbled cat * native cat * not enough room to swing a cat * Pallas cat * pampas cat * Persian cat, Persian * rain cats and dogs * reduced cat * Russian Blue cat, Russian Blue * rusty-spotted cat * sand cat * scaredy-cat * * Siamese cat, Siamese * spokescat * tabby cat, tabby * there's more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to skin a cat * tom cat, tomcat * wait for the cat to jump * wildcat, wild cat * when the cat's away the mice will play

Verb

(catt)

(nautical) To hoist (the anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead.

(nautical) To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.

(slang) To vomit something.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of catamaran .

Noun

(en noun)

A catamaran.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of catenate .

Noun

(en noun)

(computing) A program and command in Unix that reads one or more files and directs their content to an output device.

Verb

(catt)

(computing) To apply the cat command to (one or more files).

To dump large amounts of data on (an unprepared target) usually with no intention of browsing it carefully.

Etymology 4

Possibly a shortened form of catastrophic.

Adjective

(-)

(Ireland, informal) terrible, disastrous.

The weather was cat , so they returned home early.

Usage notes

This usage is common in speech but rarely appears in writing.

Etymology 5

Shortened from methcathinone.

Noun

(-)

Etymology 6

Shortened from catapult.

Noun

(en noun)

(military, naval) A catapult.

a carrier's bow cats

References

Anagrams

* English terms with multiple etymologies English three-letter words 1000 English basic words ----

jack

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) , from the name Jack, from (etyl) Jacques

Noun

(en noun)

A mechanical device used to raise and (temporarily) support a heavy object, e.g. screw jack, scissor jack, hydraulic jack, ratchet jack, scaffold jack.

She used a jack to lift her car and changed the tire.

A man or men in general.

Every man jack .

A male animal.

A male ass.

(card games) The card ranking between the (ten) and (queen) of any suit, picturing a knave or prince on its face. In some card games has a value of eleven based on its rank, but in many card games has a value of ten like the ten'', ''queen'', and (king) cards. Also called a ''knave .

(archaic) A knave (a servant or later, a deceitful man).

, related to the mango tree.

A surface-mounted connector for electrical, especially telecommunications, equipment.

telephone jack

(sports) A target ball in bowls, etc; a jack-ball.

* (rfdate), Sir (Walter Scott)

like an uninstructed bowler who thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straight forward upon it

(games) A small, six-pointed playing piece used in the game of jacks.

(colloquial, euphemistic) Nothing, jack shit.

You haven't done jack . Get up and get this room cleaned up right now!

(nautical) A small flag at the bow of a ship.

(nautical) A naval ensign flag flown from the main mast, mizzen mast, or the aft-most major mast of (especially) British sailing warships; Union Jack.

(military) A coarse and cheap medieval coat of defense, especially one made of leather.

A penny with a head on both sides, used for cheating. (Reference: Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language , second edition, 1966, chapter XI section 3, page 243.)

(slang) Money.

* 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), The Big Sleep , Penguin 2011, page 133:

First off Regan carried fifteen grand, packed it in his clothes all the time. Real money, they tell me. Not just a top card and a bunch of hay. That's a lot of jack [...].

(slang, Appalachians) A smooth often ovoid large gravel or small cobble in a natural water course.

A common name for the freshwater pike, green pike or pickerel.

A large California rockfish.

Any marine fish or the species of the Carangidae family.

(obsolete, nautical) A sailor; a "jack tar".

(obsolete) A pitcher or can of waxed leather, supposed to resemble a jackboot; a black-jack.

(Dryden)

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A drinking measure holding half a pint or, sometimes, a quarter of a pint.

(Halliwell)

A mechanical contrivance, an auxiliary machine, or a subordinate part of a machine.

# A device to pull off boots.

# A sawhorse or sawbuck.

# A machine for turning a spit; a smokejack.

# (mining) A wooden wedge for separating rocks rent by blasting.

# A lever for depressing the sinkers which push the loops down on the needles in a knitting machine.

# A grating to separate and guide the threads in a warping machine; a heck box.

# A machine for twisting the sliver as it leaves the carding machine.

# A compact, portable machine for planing metal.

# A machine for slicking or pebbling leather.

# A system of gearing driven by a horse power, for multiplying speed.

# A hood or other device placed over a chimney or vent pipe, to prevent a back draught.

# In the harpsichord, an intermediate piece communicating the action of the key to the quill; also called hopper.

# In hunting, the pan or frame holding the fuel of the torch used to attract game at night; also, the light itself.

# (nautical) A bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead, to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal shrouds; also called jack crosstree.

Female ended electrical connector (see )

Electrical connector in a fixed position (see )

Synonyms

* (playing card) knave * (male ass) jackass

Derived terms

* bicolor jack * blackfin jack * bootjack * cheap-jack * cottonmouth jack * Crevalle jack * green jack * horse-eye jack * jackanapes * jack-o'-lantern * jack of all trades * jack over * jack plug * jack rabbit * one-eyed jack * Senegal jack * trolley jack * whitetongue jack * Union Jack * yellowfin jack

Verb

(en verb)

To use a jack.

He jacked the car up so that he could replace the brake pads.

To raise or increase.

If you want to jack your stats you just write off failures as invalid results.

(colloquial) To steal something, typically an automobile. Contraction of carjacking

Someone jacked my car last night!

To dance by moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion.

Derived terms

* jack up (several meanings) * jack off

Etymology 2

(en)

Verb

(en verb)

(transitive, slang, baseball) To hit (the ball) hard; especially, to hit (the ball) out of the field, producing a home run.

* 1986 , in Arete: The Journal of Sport Literature , Volume 4, Sport Literature Association:

An excellent piece of work, Wayne thought, so good in fact, he wasn’t surprised when Bailey walked to the plate and on the first pitch jacked the ball far into the parking lot outside the left-field fence for a tournament winning homerun.

* 2004 , Wayne Stewart, Hitting Secrets of the Pros: Big League Sluggers Reveal the Tricks of Their Trade , McGraw-Hill Professional, ISBN 9780071418249, page 90:

Therefore, even though Vizquel is certainly not a power hitter, at times he will try to jack the ball, perhaps pulling it with just enough oomph to carry down the line for a homer.

* Jim McManus, quoted in T.J. Lewis, A View from the Mound: My Father’s Life in Baseball , Lulu.com (publisher, 2008), ISBN 9781435714861, page 107:

Maybe he hung a curve ball to somebody and they jacked it out of the park on him and he wasn’t upset about it.

Derived terms

* jack in * jack it in * jack off

Etymology 3

(etyl) jaque, jacque, perhaps from the proper name Jacques. Compare jacquerie.

Noun

(en noun)

A coarse mediaeval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.

* Sir J. Harrington

Their horsemen are with jacks for most part clad.

Etymology 4

Noun

(en noun)

A jackfruit tree.

References

* ----