cathead

Syllables: cat·head/ˈkæthɛd/US/ˈkætˌ(h)ɛd/

cathead noun: a heavy piece of timber projecting somewhat horizontally from each side of the bow of a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured when not used, from its stock end. Also the ellipsis of cathead biscuit.

Noun

cathead (plural catheads)

A heavy piece of timber projecting somewhat horizontally from each side of the bow of a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured when not used, from its stock end.
- "Hurrah, for the last time," said the mate; and the anchor came to the cat-head to the tune of "Time for us to go," with a loud chorus. Everything was done quick, as though it were for the last time.1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXIX, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 349
- The cat-heads had burned away, and the two red-hot anchors had gone to the bottom, tearing out after them two hundred fathom of red-hot chain.1898 September, Joseph Conrad, “Youth: a Narrative”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXIV, number DCCCCXCV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publication Co., page 325, column 1
A decorative element at the end of such a timber that often depicts a cat's head.
A (small) capstan (“vertical cylindrical machine that revolves on a spindle, used to apply force to cables, ropes, etc.”) or windlass (“type of winch”) forming part of hoisting machinery.
(UK, dialectal) A nodule of ironstone containing fossil remains.
- A piece of a ferruginous ſtoney Nodule having in it 3 Leaves of a capillary Plant […] Theſe Nodules, vvith Leaves in them, are called Catheads, and ſeem to conſiſt of a ſort of Iron-Stone, not unlike that vvhich is found very plentifully at Robinshood's-Bay in Yorkſhire, and in the Rocks near...1729, J[ohn] Woodward, “A Catalogue of the Plants in Stone, Contained in the First Classis”, in An Attempt towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England; […], tome I, London: […] F[rancis]...

Verb

cathead (third-person singular simple present catheads, present participle catheading, simple past and past participle catheaded)

(transitive) Synonym of cat (“to hoist (an anchor) so that it hangs at the cathead (noun sense 1.1)”)
- [T]he whole canvass of the ship was loosed, and with the greatest rapidity possible, everything was sheeted home and hoisted up, the anchor tripped and catheaded, and the ship under headway.1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXV, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 270
Synonyms:

cat

Also used as

cathead is also the ellipsis of cathead biscuit.

cathead meaning in Arabic

cathead in Arabic

heavy piece of timber projecting from a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured: رجام

More languagesFewer languages

Dhivehi: ގުޑުގުޑާ guḍuguḍā

Synonyms of cathead

Forms of cathead

Noun
plural	catheads
alternative form	cat-head
Verb
third-person singular present	catheads
present participle	catheading
past participle	catheaded
past	catheaded

Origin of cathead

The noun is derived from cat + head. Sense 1.1 (“heavy piece of timber projecting from a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured”) is from the fact that such a timber traditionally had a cat or lion’s head carved on its end. Sense 4 (“ellipsis of cathead biscuit”) is apparently from the fact that the biscuit is similar in size to a cat’s head. The verb is derived from the noun.

Phrases with cathead

cathead biscuits

Questions about cathead

What does cathead mean?: Cathead means a heavy piece of timber projecting somewhat horizontally from each side of the bow of a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured when not used, from its stock end.
What is cathead in Arabic?: Cathead in Arabic is رجام. See Cathead meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is cathead?: Cathead can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce cathead?: Cathead is pronounced /ˈkæthɛd/ (UK).
What is the plural of cathead?: The plural of cathead is catheads.

Words near cathead in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cathead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cathead.wav.

Cite this entry: “cathead.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cathead. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.