yellow cat

yellow cat — noun

1. an American river fish with a smooth, yellow-brown skin, long feelers near its m

1.nounC1
Definition

an American river fish with a smooth, yellow-brown skin, long feelers near its mouth, and no scales, eaten as food in parts of the southern United States

Example

Reuben pulled a heavy yellow cat out of the muddy river and grinned proudly.

catch / pull out a yellow cat

Old fishermen along the Mississippi say a big yellow cat can weigh more than a small child.

size of a yellow cat

Common collocations
  • catch a yellow cat
  • fry a yellow cat
  • a big yellow cat
  • fish for yellow cats
Synonyms
  • catfish

    the wider family of smooth, whiskered fish that a yellow cat belongs to

  • bullhead

    a smaller related catfish; sometimes used for the same kind of fish in everyday speech

Grammar Patterns

catch a yellow cat

fish for yellow cats

Usage Note

Common in the southern United States as an informal name for several yellow-skinned catfish; in everyday speech people often shorten it to 'yellow cat' rather than naming the exact species.

Common Mistakes

A yellow cat sat on the warm windowsill and purred.
A yellow cat is a kind of river fish, not a pet animal.
here 'cat' is short for 'catfish', so a 'yellow cat' is a fish, not a yellow-coloured pet cat.

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

A plain compound: 'yellow' for the fish's yellow-brown skin, and 'cat', a short form of 'catfish'. The fish is called a 'catfish' because the long feelers around its mouth look a little like a cat's whiskers, so a 'yellow cat' is simply a yellow-skinned member of that family.