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LIKE A CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF definition: 1. used to describe someone who is in a state of extreme nervous worry 2. used to describe someone…. Learn more.
cat on a hot tin roof. A Southernism that meant someone who was on edge or nervous. The phrase survives as the title of Tennessee Williams's 1955 Pulitzer Prize–winning drama. See also: cat, hot, on, roof, tin.
Jul 23, 2023 · ‘Like a cat on a hot tin roof’ means to be nervous, jumpy, skittish, or agitated. Though the phrase was made particularly famous by the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , variations of the expression have actually been around for hundreds of years.
You can use "Cat on a hot tin roof" to describe a state of extreme anxiety or restlessness. It emphasizes the feeling of being on edge and unable to relax. For example, if you're waiting for an important phone call and can't sit still, you might say, 'I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof.'
To be anxious and unable to sit still or relax. A: "Why is Carrie pacing?" B: "She's waiting for the doctor to call with her test results, so she's been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day." Watching that game was so stressful—I was like a cat on a hot tin roof the whole time!
Skittish, nervous, ill at ease. A similar analogy—“like a cat on a hot bake-stone”—appeared in John Ray’s Proverbs of 1678. It was later replaced by “like a cat on hot bricks,” still used in the mid-twentieth century, but Tennessee Williams preferred the more picturesque “hot tin roof ” for the title of his 1955 play, Cat on a ...
In an uneasy or agitated state.... Click for English pronunciations, examples sentences, video.
