What does catted mean?
"Catted" is the past tense of the verb "cat," which carries two quite different meanings. In everyday British slang, it means vomited, a crude colloquialism found in casual speech rather than formal writing. Its older and more colourful sense belongs to the age of sail: to cat an anchor was to haul it up and secure it against the cathead, a heavy timber projecting from a ship's bow, so that it hung clear of the water and the vessel could put to sea. This was hard, coordinated work done with tackles and capstans, and it gave rise to phrases like "catting the anchor." Today the nautical sense survives mainly in maritime history books and the speech of sailing enthusiasts, while the slang sense persists in informal British English. The word ultimately derives from "cat," the familiar animal name of Germanic origin, though the connection between the animal and either verbal sense is not literal.
verbPast tense and past participle of "cat" as a verb: to vomit (chiefly British slang), or, in nautical use, to hoist an anchor up to the cathead ready for sea.
- (of an anchor) hoisted up to the cathead ready for sailing
- vomited (British slang)
"The old sailor remembered how they catted the anchor before every voyage out of Portsmouth."
"Once the crew had catted the anchor and stowed the tackle, the ship slipped her moorings."
"He felt so seasick that he catted over the rail within an hour of leaving port."
Before steam winches, sailors 'catted' the anchor by hauling it up to a heavy wooden bracket on the ship's bow called the cathead.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of catted
"Catted" derives from the verb "cat," formed from the noun "cat," which comes from Old English "catt," of late Latin origin ("cattus") and common Germanic stock, with cognates such as German "Katze." The nautical verb arose during the era of wooden sailing ships, named for the cathead timber used in raising the anchor; the slang sense for vomiting developed later in British colloquial speech. Both are extensions of the same animal noun rather than borrowings from other languages.
Related word forms
How catted is actually used
Both senses are informal or technical: the vomiting sense is chiefly British slang and considered crude; the anchor sense belongs mainly to historical nautical language and appears mostly in accounts of the age of sail.
Easily confused with catted
"Chatted" means talked casually, while "catted" is either slang for vomiting or the nautical act of raising an anchor.