Word.ws English Dictionary

when the cat's away the mice play

when the cat's away the mice play is the alternative form of when the cat's away the mice will play.

Meaning of when the cat's away the mice will play

Proverb

when the cat's away the mice will play

  1. In the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances.

Questions about when the cat's away the mice play

What is when the cat's away the mice play the alternative form of?
When the cat's away the mice play is the alternative form of when the cat's away the mice will play.

Words near when the cat's away the mice play in the dictionary

  1. when pigs fly
  2. when push comes to shove
  3. when shrimps whistle
  4. when the balloon goes up
  5. when the cat's away
  6. when the cat's away the mice play
  7. when the cat's away the mice will play
  8. when the chips are down
  9. when the going gets tough, the tough get going
  10. when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
  11. when the looting starts, the shooting starts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: when the cat's away the mice play (page history and authors); when the cat's away the mice will play (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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