cat-footed
adjEtymology From cat + footed. First use appears c. 1593. See cite below.
1
Literally Possessing feet resembling a cat.
2
Figuratively, Idiomatic Soft-footed like a cat; quiet or stealthy while walking.
- Gulfe-breſted is he, ſilent and profound, / Cat-footed for ſlie pace, and without ſound.1593, Everard Guilpin (published by Oxford University Press), Facsimiles, Volumes 1-4 (a publication of Skialetheia, or A Shadowe of Truth, in Certaine Epigrams and Satyres), page 23:
- Derived terms
- cat-footedness