Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see dead, cat.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A furry windscreen; a furry cover placed over a microphone to muffle the sound of wind.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
Qualifier: sound engineering
Topics: broadcasting, cinematography, film, media, television
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: dead wombat, windscreen, windshield
noun
A shocking or sensational announcement made in order to distract one's political base from existing problems and previous failures.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, neologism
Topics: government, politics
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To announce (something) as a dead cat; to raise an issue as a political distraction.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ambitransitive, figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
[Alt: A dark furry cover on a boom microphone] The instrument is named for its resemblance to an actual dead cat.
Introduced by former UK prime minister and then-mayor of London Boris Johnson in 2013 in a column for The Daily Telegraph.
