Cat's paw

Look up cat's-paw in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Cat's paw is a phrase derived from La Fontaine's fable, "The Monkey and the Cat", referring to a person used unwittingly or unwillingly by another to accomplish the other's own purpose.

Cat's paw or Catspaw may also refer to:

• The paw of a cat

In arts and entertainment

• Catspaw (novel), science fiction book by Joan D. Vinge
• Catspaw (TV series), TV series
• Catspaw (comics), April Dumaka, a superhero character published by DC Comics
• "Catspaw" (Star Trek: The Original Series), episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
• The Cat's-Paw, 1934 film with Harold Lloyd
• The Cat's Paw (painting), by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, depicting the fable "The Monkey and the Cat"
• Billy Budd by Herman Melville where the Character Dansker exclaims "A cat's paw, a cat's paw!" when referring to how the aftergaurdsman was being used by Claggert to set up Billy.

In science

• Cat's Paw Mussel, one of a few species of Epioblasma mussels
• Catspaw, informal name of some species of the plant Anigozanthus (Haemodoraceae)
• Cat's Paw Nebula or Bear Claw Nebula, common names for NGC 6334
• Cat's paw (wave), in Earth sciences, a pattern of shallow ripples (capillary waves) on the surface of water

In technology

• Cat's paw (knot)
• Cat's paw (nail puller), a hand tool
• Cat's Paw or Spanish tickler, an instrument of torture