"cat's cradle" meaning in English

See cat's cradle in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-cat's cradle.ogg [Australia] Forms: cat's cradles [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} cat's cradle (countable and uncountable, plural cat's cradles)
  1. (uncountable) A children's game of forming string into various shapes around one's fingers. Tags: uncountable Translations (children's game): թելեցուկ (tʻelecʻuk) (Armenian), fadenludo (Esperanto), (jeu du) berceau (French), (jeu de la) scie (French), Fadenspiel [neuter] (German), סבתא סורגת (Hebrew), crúb na gé [feminine] (Irish), あやとり (ayatori) (Japanese), 실뜨기 (siltteugi) (Korean), whai (Maori), naʼatłʼoʼ (Navajo), cama de gato (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-cat's_cradle-en-noun-LkZnqFqZ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 54 46 Disambiguation of "children's game": 87 13
  2. (countable, idiomatic) Any complicated structure that appears to be without purpose. Tags: countable, idiomatic Categories (lifeform): Cats
    Sense id: en-cat's_cradle-en-noun-LP1vO~yl Disambiguation of Cats: 42 58 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 54 46 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 37 63 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 37 63

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for cat's cradle meaning in English (3.9kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cat's cradles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "cat's cradle (countable and uncountable, plural cat's cradles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A children's game of forming string into various shapes around one's fingers."
      ],
      "id": "en-cat's_cradle-en-noun-LkZnqFqZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "string",
          "string"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable) A children's game of forming string into various shapes around one's fingers."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "tʻelecʻuk",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "թելեցուկ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "fadenludo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "(jeu du) berceau"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "(jeu de la) scie"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Fadenspiel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "סבתא סורגת"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "crúb na gé"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ayatori",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "あやとり"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "siltteugi",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "실뜨기"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "whai"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "nv",
          "lang": "Navajo",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "naʼatłʼoʼ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "children's game",
          "word": "cama de gato"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "42 58",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Cats",
          "orig": "en:Cats",
          "parents": [
            "Felids",
            "Carnivores",
            "Mammals",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020, Sophy Roberts, The Lost Pianos of Siberia, page 89",
          "text": "There was the a risk that my research might reveal the original, rightful owner of an instrument, which could open up a cat's cradle of restitution claims.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any complicated structure that appears to be without purpose."
      ],
      "id": "en-cat's_cradle-en-noun-LP1vO~yl",
      "links": [
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable, idiomatic) Any complicated structure that appears to be without purpose."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-cat's cradle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a9/En-au-cat%27s_cradle.ogg/En-au-cat%27s_cradle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/En-au-cat%27s_cradle.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Cat's cradle (string game)"
  ],
  "word": "cat's cradle"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "en:Cats"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cat's cradles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "cat's cradle (countable and uncountable, plural cat's cradles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A children's game of forming string into various shapes around one's fingers."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "string",
          "string"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable) A children's game of forming string into various shapes around one's fingers."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020, Sophy Roberts, The Lost Pianos of Siberia, page 89",
          "text": "There was the a risk that my research might reveal the original, rightful owner of an instrument, which could open up a cat's cradle of restitution claims.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any complicated structure that appears to be without purpose."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable, idiomatic) Any complicated structure that appears to be without purpose."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-cat's cradle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a9/En-au-cat%27s_cradle.ogg/En-au-cat%27s_cradle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/En-au-cat%27s_cradle.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "tʻelecʻuk",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "թելեցուկ"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "fadenludo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "(jeu du) berceau"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "(jeu de la) scie"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Fadenspiel"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "סבתא סורגת"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "crúb na gé"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ayatori",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "あやとり"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "siltteugi",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "실뜨기"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "whai"
    },
    {
      "code": "nv",
      "lang": "Navajo",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "naʼatłʼoʼ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "children's game",
      "word": "cama de gato"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Cat's cradle (string game)"
  ],
  "word": "cat's cradle"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.