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View synonyms for kitten

kitten

[ kit-n ]

noun

  1. a young cat.


verb (used with or without object)

  1. (of cats) to give birth; bear.

kitten

/ ˈkɪtən /

noun

  1. a young cat
  2. have kittens informal.
    have kittenshave a canary to react with disapproval, anxiety, etc US equivalenthave a cow

    she had kittens when she got the bill



verb

  1. (of cats) to give birth to (young)

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Derived Forms

  • ˈkitten-ˌlike, adjective

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Other Words From

  • kitten·like adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of kitten1

1350–1400; Middle English kitoun, apparently blend of kiteling kitling and Middle French chitoun, variant of chaton kitten

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Word History and Origins

Origin of kitten1

C14: from Old Northern French caton, from cat 1; probably influenced by Middle English kiteling

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Idioms and Phrases

see have a fit (kittens) ; weak as a kitten .

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Example Sentences

Elephants have a lot more mass — they are made of more matter — than a kitten.

This, he says, would have to be a very strange-looking kitten.

His background featured a poster of a kitten draped with his signature red headband.

They sailed to Wrangel aboard the Victoria, with a gray kitten they dubbed Vic.

From Ozy

It appears not all “cats and kittens” are “cool” at Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue.

She found a way to make little kitten steps to the microphone in unison with the music.

So, the pair set about tapping into that world to find partners who might appreciate the utility of a dead, frozen kitten.

Suppose I have a sincere religious belief that if I stop at a stop sign, God kills a kitten.

They are cheered on by penguins and interrupted by a kitten halftime show after the first hour.

Before Theodore meets—or rather buys—her, he goes online, finds a woman who calls herself “Sexy Kitten,” and has phone sex.

He contented himself the better by frequent visits to Skyrie, and by his gift to Dorothy of the stray kitten.

To his breast he clutched a tiny white kitten, it was quite young, its eyes not being yet open.

The child and the one kitten undoomed to a watery grave were carried off by the bonne.

Sure enough, there was the kitten, not taking the least care of her necktie, just ready to pounce upon a big mouse.

A dog would bark; a kitten would mew; a parrot would say "Pardon!"

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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kittelkitten heel