kitty

¹ American  

[kit-ee] / ˈkɪt i /

noun

plural

kitties

1. a kitten.

2. a pet name for a cat.

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kitty ² American  

[kit-ee] / ˈkɪt i /

noun

plural

kitties

1. a pool or reserve of money, often collected from a number of persons or sources and designated for a particular purpose specified by the contributors.

2. Cards.

   1. a pool into which players in a game put a certain amount of their winnings for some special purpose, as to pay for refreshments.

   2. the pot, or a special pot, for the collection of forfeits or payments for certain high hands.

   3. widow.

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Kitty ³ American  

[kit-ee] / ˈkɪt i /

noun

1. a female given name, form of Katherine or Catherine.

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kitty ¹ British  

/ ˈkɪtɪ /

noun

1. the pool of bets in certain gambling games

2. any shared fund of money, etc

3. (in bowls) the jack

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kitty ² British  

/ ˈkɪtɪ /

noun

1. a diminutive or affectionate name for a kitten cat 1

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Etymology

Origin of kitty¹

First recorded in 1710–20; kitt(en) + -y ²

Origin of kitty²

First recorded in 1815–25; kit ¹ + -y ²

Example Sentences

For months, she said, the small children of the neighborhood had banded together to bring food to “Opa’s kitty.”

From Literature

“A kitty,” Little Britches said against the shirtwaist.

From Literature

My friend’s cat hid under the bed and wanted us to play with it, so I leaned over and uttered three words I’ll never, ever, say again: “Here, kitty kitty.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I would walk around with this little kitty in my hand, and of course people would look at it, like what is that?”

From The Wall Street Journal

These rival kitties were leopard cats, small wild cats with leopard-like spots, that lived in human settlements in China for around 3,500 years.

From BBC

Related Words

• kitten