4PHRASE (无意中)泄露秘密;说漏嘴 If you let the cat out of the bag, you tell people about something that was being kept secret. You often do this by mistake. (无意中)泄露秘密;说漏嘴
5PHRASE 好奇害死猫;事不关己,不要打听 You say 'Curiosity killed the cat' in order to tell someone that they should not try to find out about something which does not concern them. 好奇害死猫;事不关己,不要打听
'All right, I've been reading it. So what?' — 'Curiosity killed the cat, that's what.'
“好了好了,我是一直在读这个。那又怎么样?”—“不怎么样,只是好奇心,惹祸根。”
6PHRASE [Vs inflect]衣衫褴褛;不修边幅 If you look like something the cat dragged in or brought in, you are very untidy or dirty. 衣衫褴褛;不修边幅
I must look like something the cat dragged in.
我当时看上去一定很邋遢。
7PHRASE (打斗、竞赛中)玩猫戏老鼠,戏弄,捉弄 In a fight or contest, if one person plays cat and mouse, or a game of cat and mouse, with the other, the first person tries to confuse or deceive the second in order to defeat them. (打斗、竞赛中)玩猫戏老鼠,戏弄,捉弄
After three hours of playing cat and mouse, they threatened to open fire on our vessel, so we stopped.
玩了3个小时的猫捉老鼠后,他们威胁说要向我们的船上开火,所以我们就停了下来。
It's a cat-and-mouse game to him.
对他说来,就是一场猫捉老鼠的游戏。
8PHRASE 引起纷争;挑起轩然大波 If you put the cat among the pigeons or set the cat among the pigeons, you cause fierce argument or discussion by doing or saying something. 引起纷争;挑起轩然大波 [British]
The bank is poised to put the cat among the pigeons this morning by slashing the cost of borrowing.
今天早上银行准备大幅下调贷款利率,这将引起轩然大波。
9PHRASE 地方狭小;空间拥挤 If you say 'There's no room to swing a cat' or 'You can't swing a cat', you mean that the place you are talking about is very small or crowded. 地方狭小;空间拥挤
It was described as a large, luxury mobile home, but there was barely room to swing a cat.
那个活动房被形容为宽敞豪华,可事实上几乎连转身的地儿都没有。
Quotations
cat: a soft, indestructible automaton provided by nature to be kicked when things go wrong in the domestic circleAmbrose BierceThe Devil's Dictionary
Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you wantJoseph Wood KrutchThe Twelve Seasons
When I play with my cat, who knows whether she isn't amusing herself with me more than I am with her?MontaigneEssais
ADJECTIVE | VERB + CAT | CAT + VERB | CAT + NOUN | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤domestic, family, house, household, pet家貓;寵物貓▸➤big大型貓科動物◇She went to Africa to photograph big cats.她去非洲拍攝大型貓科動物。➤feral, wild野貓▸➤alley, stray(街上的)野貓;流浪貓▸➤pedigree, pedigreed (NAmE) 純種貓▸➤long-haired, short-haired長毛貓;短毛貓▸➤calico, tabby, tortoiseshell, etc.雜色貓、斑貓、花斑家貓等▸➤tom (usually tomcat)雄貓▸➤playful頑皮的貓▸➤sleek皮毛油亮的貓▸➤Cheshire (figurative) 咧嘴傻笑的人◇He was grinning like a Cheshire cat (= smiling widely).他咧着嘴傻笑。➤fat (figurative) 有錢人◇the fat cats of big business大企業的大亨VERB + CAT➤have, keep, own有貓;養貓◇We have a pet cat called Archie.我們有一隻叫阿奇的寵物貓。➤feed餵貓▸➤pet, stroke (especially BrE) 撫摸貓▸➤neuter, spay閹貓◇They didn't want kittens, so they had their cat spayed.他們不想要貓產崽,所以給它去了勢。➤put down把貓人道毀滅◇The cat was in constant pain so they had it put down.這隻貓疼痛不止,他們只好把它人道處理了。CAT + VERB➤hiss, mew, miaow/meow, purr, spit, yowl貓發出噝噝聲;貓喵喵叫;貓(高興時)發出呼嚕聲;貓(憤怒時)發出咕嚕咕嚕聲;貓哀叫◇The cat miaowed pitifully.貓喵喵地叫得可憐。◇There was a cat yowling outside my window last night.昨晚有隻貓在我窗前哀號。➤bite (sb), scratch (sb)貓咬(某人);貓抓(某人)▸➤creep, pad, prowl, slink貓爬行;貓悄悄地走;貓潛行;貓溜走◇A cat padded silently past.一隻貓靜悄悄地走了過去。◇The cat slunk away into the darkness.貓溜走了,消失在黑暗中。➤arch its back貓弓起腰▸➤crouch貓蜷伏▸➤curl up貓蜷着▸➤catch sth, hunt (sth), stalk sth貓抓住⋯;貓獵取(⋯);貓潛隨⋯▸➤jump, leap, pounce (on sth), spring貓跳躍;貓猛撲(到某物上)▸➤spray (sth)貓撒(尿)◇Cats mark their territory by spraying.貓撒尿標示自己的領地。CAT + NOUN➤door, flap (BrE) 門上的貓洞▸➤food貓食▸➤litter一窩貓崽➤dander, hair貓的皮屑;貓毛▸➤lover, owner愛貓者;貓主人▸➤phobia恐貓症PHRASES➤fight like cat and dog, fight like cats and dogs (NAmE) 激烈爭鬥◇In our childhood Irina and I fought like cat(s) and dog(s).童年時我和伊琳娜是對頭。➤play (a game of) cat and mouse玩貓捉老鼠(的把戲)◇Young car thieves enjoy playing cat and mouse with the police.年輕的盜車賊喜歡與警察玩貓捉老鼠的把戲。