Definition of cat's-paw
plural cat's-paws
1
: a light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular patches during a calm
2
[from the fable of the monkey that used a cat's paw to draw chestnuts from the fire]
: one used by another as a tool : dupe - the … government became the cat's-paw for foreign powers
- —D. J. Boorstin
3
: a hitch knot formed with two eyes for attaching a line to a hook — see knot illustration
