cat's-paw

Definition of cat's-pawnext
as in pawn
one that is or can be used to further the purposes of another these changes to the zoning laws have only confirmed for many that the town council has become the cat's-paw of local real estate developers

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cat's-paw
Noun
  • Steve Buscemi and Giancarlo Esposito have supporting turns as, respectively, a pawn shop owner and a cop, and joined Turturro onstage where the super-group of Sundance veterans spoke of their personal affection for Robert Redford.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Additionally, pawn shops hold large amounts of gold, and many loans are collateralized by gold jewelry.
    Itzel Franco, CNBC, 30 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • Together, these tools create a more streamlined, precise, and safer approach to the repetitive and high-volume tasks common in large-scale data center projects.
    Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 1 Feb. 2026
  • In Mendonça’s work, memory functions as a tool of defiance.
    Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Cat's-paw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cat%27s-paw. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

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