"not enough room to swing a cat" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Attested 1665, by which point already in common use; perhaps of naval slang origin.\nWhile it is frequently stated that the phrase is derived from cat-o’-nine-tails (“type of whip”), this latter term is only attested from 1695, and hence this idiom presumably derived from literally swinging a cat around, as by the tail.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "not enough room to swing a cat (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "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 Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Welsh translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1665, Richard Kephale Medela Pestilentiae\nThey had not space enough (according to the vulgar saying) to swing a Cat in."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII:",
          "text": "My own apartment, to take a case in point, was a sort of hermit's cell in which one would have been hard put to it to swing a cat, even a smaller one than Augustus, not of course that one often wants to do much cat-swinging.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Very little space (available) (of a very small room)."
      ],
      "id": "en-not_enough_room_to_swing_a_cat-en-noun-4FcY3vPr",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Very little space (available) (of a very small room)."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "packed like sardines"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "confined"
        },
        {
          "word": "cramped"
        },
        {
          "word": "tiny"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
          "word": "egy gombostűt se lehetett volna leejteni"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
          "word": "猫の額"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "jabloku negde upastʹ",
          "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
          "word": "яблоку негде упасть"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "hólci níde vpásty",
          "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
          "word": "го́лці ні́де впа́сти"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "jábluku níde vpásty",
          "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
          "word": "я́блуку ні́де впа́сти"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
          "word": "does dim lle i chwipio chwannen"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "not enough room to swing a cat"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Attested 1665, by which point already in common use; perhaps of naval slang origin.\nWhile it is frequently stated that the phrase is derived from cat-o’-nine-tails (“type of whip”), this latter term is only attested from 1695, and hence this idiom presumably derived from literally swinging a cat around, as by the tail.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "not enough room to swing a cat (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "packed like sardines"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
        "Terms with Welsh translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1665, Richard Kephale Medela Pestilentiae\nThey had not space enough (according to the vulgar saying) to swing a Cat in."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII:",
          "text": "My own apartment, to take a case in point, was a sort of hermit's cell in which one would have been hard put to it to swing a cat, even a smaller one than Augustus, not of course that one often wants to do much cat-swinging.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Very little space (available) (of a very small room)."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Very little space (available) (of a very small room)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "confined"
    },
    {
      "word": "cramped"
    },
    {
      "word": "tiny"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
      "word": "egy gombostűt se lehetett volna leejteni"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
      "word": "猫の額"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "jabloku negde upastʹ",
      "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
      "word": "яблоку негде упасть"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "hólci níde vpásty",
      "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
      "word": "го́лці ні́де впа́сти"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "jábluku níde vpásty",
      "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
      "word": "я́блуку ні́де впа́сти"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "of a room, very little space available",
      "word": "does dim lle i chwipio chwannen"
    }
  ],
  "word": "not enough room to swing a cat"
}