Word.ws English Dictionary

letting the cat out of the bag

letting the cat out of the bag is the present participle and gerund of let the cat out of the bag.

Meaning of let the cat out of the bag

Verb

let the cat out of the bag (third-person singular simple present lets the cat out of the bag, present participle letting the cat out of the bag, simple past and past participle let the cat out of the bag)

  1. (idiomatic) To disclose a secret; to let a secret be known, often inadvertently.
    • It was going to be a surprise party until someone let the cat out of the bag.

Questions about letting the cat out of the bag

What is letting the cat out of the bag the present participle and gerund of?
Letting the cat out of the bag is the present participle and gerund of let the cat out of the bag.

Words near letting the cat out of the bag in the dictionary

  1. letting someone loose
  2. letting something ride
  3. letting something slip
  4. letting the buyer beware
  5. letting the cat out
  6. letting the cat out of the bag
  7. letting the cat out the bag
  8. letting the chips fall where they may
  9. letting the devil out
  10. letting the dice fall where they may
  11. letting the grass grow round one's feet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: letting the cat out of the bag (page history and authors); let the cat out of the bag (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.

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