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catfight

noun

Etymology

From cat + fight. So named because, like cats, scratching is a common defensive tactic among women, as opposed to a fistfight between men.

  1. derived from *peḱ-✻
  2. inherited from *fehtaną✻
  3. inherited from *fehtan✻
  4. inherited from feohtan
  5. inherited from fighten
  6. compounded as catfight — “cat + fight”

Definitions

  1. A fight between cats.

    • The caterwauling from the catfight in the back yard was awful; I couldn't get to sleep until it was over.

  2. A fight or bickering, especially between women.

    • Nancy and Sheila got into a catfight when Nancy's boyfriend cheated on her with Sheila.
    • Female conflict, seen in this kind of structure, works conveniently—it takes note of aggression in women and sets it against other women. Men are spared. The audience applauds. Everyone loves a catfight.
    • There was a time when I would get furious and fire off an angry note if someone cast me in a catfight with a woman colleague. I assumed that catfights would fade as women progressed. They seemed so retro.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for catfight. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA