FreeScrabbleDictionary

catgut

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
12
Letters
6
Pronunciation
/ˈkætˌɡʌt/

Definition of catgut

4 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (countable)A cord of great toughness made from the intestines of animals, especially of sheep, used for strings of musical instruments, racquets, sutures etc.
    “The thing about Proust is his combination of the utmost sensibility with the utmost tenacity. He searches out these butterfly shades to the last grain. He is as tough as catgut & as evanescent as a butterfly's bloom.”
    “Eventually they carved small paddles to strike the ball and refined this implement with a mesh of catgut.”
    “The absorbable suture, catgut, is made of collagen derived from sheep intestinal submucosa. It is usually treated with a chromic salt to increase its strength and is crosslinked to retard resorption. Such treatment extends the life of catgut suture from 3–7 days up to 20–40 days.”
See all 4 definitions

noun

  1. (countable)A cord of great toughness made from the intestines of animals, especially of sheep, used for strings of musical instruments, racquets, sutures etc.
    “The thing about Proust is his combination of the utmost sensibility with the utmost tenacity. He searches out these butterfly shades to the last grain. He is as tough as catgut & as evanescent as a butterfly's bloom.”
    “Eventually they carved small paddles to strike the ball and refined this implement with a mesh of catgut.”
    “The absorbable suture, catgut, is made of collagen derived from sheep intestinal submucosa. It is usually treated with a chromic salt to increase its strength and is crosslinked to retard resorption. Such treatment extends the life of catgut suture from 3–7 days up to 20–40 days.”
  2. (uncountable)The material from which such cords are made.
  3. (uncountable)A sort of linen or canvas, with wide interstices.
  4. (uncountable)Tephrosia virginiana (goat's rue, devil's shoestring).

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Possibly an abbreviation of the word cattlegut. Alternatively, it may derive by folk etymology from kitgut or kitstring — the word kit, meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word kit for a young cat.

Words you can make from catgut

20 playable · top: GUAC (7 pts)

Best play guac 7 points

5-letter words

1 word

4-letter words

2 words

3-letter words

12 words

2-letter words

4 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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