"look what the cat's dragged in" meaning in English

See look what the cat's dragged in in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Audio: En-au-look what the cat's dragged in.ogg Forms: look what the cat's dragged in ! [canonical]
Etymology: From the habit of domestic cats of bringing home the remains of killed animals. Head templates: {{head|en|phrase|head=look what the cat's dragged in!}} look what the cat's dragged in!
  1. (idiomatic) Used as an ironic acknowledgement of someone's arrival, especially to imply that they are unwelcome or disagreeable in some way. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: look what the cat dragged in, look what the cat drug in, look who the cat dragged in Translations (look who's here): quem é vivo sempre aparece (note: without negative connotation) (Portuguese)

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From the habit of domestic cats of bringing home the remains of killed animals.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "look what the cat's dragged in !",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase",
        "head": "look what the cat's dragged in!"
      },
      "expansion": "look what the cat's dragged in!",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Monica Ali, In The Kitchen, Random House, →ISBN, page 526:",
          "text": "Still facing the mirror, he drawled, ‘Look what the cat's dragged in. Where have you been?’ Gabriel rubbed his chin.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, The Rapture of the Nerds, Tor Books, →ISBN, page 283:",
          "text": "“Well, look what the cat drug in, Sam,” says a familiar voice, which comes, of course, from everywhere and nowhere.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, David Park, The Big Snow, A&C Black, →ISBN:",
          "text": "‘Well, well, look what the cat's dragged in,’ Gracey said as he moved the thick stump of his neck from side to side and rubbed the back of it with the great towel of his hand. ‘Nice to see you grace us with your presence, Swift. […]’",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used as an ironic acknowledgement of someone's arrival, especially to imply that they are unwelcome or disagreeable in some way."
      ],
      "id": "en-look_what_the_cat's_dragged_in-en-phrase-NPFv0aK7",
      "links": [
        [
          "ironic",
          "ironic#English"
        ],
        [
          "arrival",
          "arrival#English"
        ],
        [
          "unwelcome",
          "unwelcome#English"
        ],
        [
          "disagreeable",
          "disagreeable#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used as an ironic acknowledgement of someone's arrival, especially to imply that they are unwelcome or disagreeable in some way."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "look what the cat dragged in"
        },
        {
          "word": "look what the cat drug in"
        },
        {
          "word": "look who the cat dragged in"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "note": "without negative connotation",
          "sense": "look who's here",
          "word": "quem é vivo sempre aparece"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-look what the cat's dragged in.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/90/En-au-look_what_the_cat%27s_dragged_in.ogg/En-au-look_what_the_cat%27s_dragged_in.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/En-au-look_what_the_cat%27s_dragged_in.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "look what the cat's dragged in"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the habit of domestic cats of bringing home the remains of killed animals.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "look what the cat's dragged in !",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase",
        "head": "look what the cat's dragged in!"
      },
      "expansion": "look what the cat's dragged in!",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Monica Ali, In The Kitchen, Random House, →ISBN, page 526:",
          "text": "Still facing the mirror, he drawled, ‘Look what the cat's dragged in. Where have you been?’ Gabriel rubbed his chin.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, The Rapture of the Nerds, Tor Books, →ISBN, page 283:",
          "text": "“Well, look what the cat drug in, Sam,” says a familiar voice, which comes, of course, from everywhere and nowhere.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, David Park, The Big Snow, A&C Black, →ISBN:",
          "text": "‘Well, well, look what the cat's dragged in,’ Gracey said as he moved the thick stump of his neck from side to side and rubbed the back of it with the great towel of his hand. ‘Nice to see you grace us with your presence, Swift. […]’",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used as an ironic acknowledgement of someone's arrival, especially to imply that they are unwelcome or disagreeable in some way."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ironic",
          "ironic#English"
        ],
        [
          "arrival",
          "arrival#English"
        ],
        [
          "unwelcome",
          "unwelcome#English"
        ],
        [
          "disagreeable",
          "disagreeable#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used as an ironic acknowledgement of someone's arrival, especially to imply that they are unwelcome or disagreeable in some way."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-look what the cat's dragged in.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/90/En-au-look_what_the_cat%27s_dragged_in.ogg/En-au-look_what_the_cat%27s_dragged_in.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/En-au-look_what_the_cat%27s_dragged_in.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "look what the cat dragged in"
    },
    {
      "word": "look what the cat drug in"
    },
    {
      "word": "look who the cat dragged in"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "note": "without negative connotation",
      "sense": "look who's here",
      "word": "quem é vivo sempre aparece"
    }
  ],
  "word": "look what the cat's dragged in"
}

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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.

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