"catfight" meaning in English

See catfight in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-catfight.ogg Forms: catfights [plural]
Etymology: From cat + fight. So named because, like cats, scratching is a common defensive tactic among women, as opposed to a fistfight between men. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|cat|fight}} cat + fight Head templates: {{en-noun}} catfight (plural catfights)
  1. A fight between cats. Categories (topical): Violence
    Sense id: en-catfight-en-noun-Aq69cGos Disambiguation of Violence: 49 51 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 52 48 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 50 50 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 50 50 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 53 47
  2. (slang) A fight or bickering, especially between women. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Violence Synonyms: hairpulling contest, scragfight Related terms (acrimonious fight, especially between women): handbags, handbags at dawn, the handbags come out, meow! Related terms (fight, especially between women): catty
    Sense id: en-catfight-en-noun-TO1dlJw0 Disambiguation of Violence: 49 51 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 52 48 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 50 50 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 50 50 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 53 47 Disambiguation of 'acrimonious fight, especially between women': 34 66 Disambiguation of 'fight, especially between women': 34 66
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: cat fight Related terms: dogfight Translations (fight between women — see also bitch fight): 打架 (dǎjià) (english: between men or women) (Chinese Mandarin), 撕逼 (sībī) (english: between women; vulgar) (Chinese Mandarin), kissatappelu (Finnish), crêpage de chignons [masculine] (French), Zickenkrieg [masculine] (German), Zickenkampf [masculine] (German), キャットファイト (kyattofaito) (Japanese), bójka pomiędzy kobietami [feminine] (Polish), pelea de gatas [feminine] (Spanish)
Disambiguation of 'fight between women — see also bitch fight': 45 55

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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          "ref": "1980, Louise Bernikow, Among Women, New York: Harmony Books, page 207:",
          "text": "Female conflict, seen in this kind of structure, works conveniently—it takes note of aggression in women and sets it against other women. Men are spared. The audience applauds. Everyone loves a catfight.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2005, Maureen Dowd, Are Men Necessary?, →ISBN, page 310:",
          "text": "There was a time when I would get furious and fire off an angry note if someone cast me in a catfight with a woman colleague. I assumed that catfights would fade as women progressed. They seemed so retro.",
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          "_dis1": "34 66",
          "sense": "acrimonious fight, especially between women",
          "word": "handbags at dawn"
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        {
          "_dis1": "34 66",
          "sense": "acrimonious fight, especially between women",
          "word": "the handbags come out"
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        {
          "_dis1": "34 66",
          "sense": "acrimonious fight, especially between women",
          "word": "meow!"
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          "word": "scragfight"
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      "english": "between men or women",
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      "roman": "dǎjià",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "word": "打架"
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      "word": "撕逼"
    },
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      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "word": "kissatappelu"
    },
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      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
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      "word": "crêpage de chignons"
    },
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      "code": "de",
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      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
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    },
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      "_dis1": "45 55",
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      "word": "キャットファイト"
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      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
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      "word": "pelea de gatas"
    }
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  "word": "catfight"
}
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      "word": "handbags"
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    {
      "sense": "acrimonious fight, especially between women",
      "word": "handbags at dawn"
    },
    {
      "sense": "acrimonious fight, especially between women",
      "word": "the handbags come out"
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    {
      "sense": "acrimonious fight, especially between women",
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        "(slang) A fight or bickering, especially between women."
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      "word": "cat fight"
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      "code": "cmn",
      "english": "between men or women",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "dǎjià",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "word": "打架"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "english": "between women; vulgar",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "sībī",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "word": "撕逼"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "word": "kissatappelu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "crêpage de chignons"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Zickenkrieg"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Zickenkampf"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kyattofaito",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "word": "キャットファイト"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "bójka pomiędzy kobietami"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "fight between women — see also bitch fight",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "pelea de gatas"
    }
  ],
  "word": "catfight"
}

Download raw JSONL data for catfight meaning in English (4.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). 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.