Illustration of cat's cradle
- cat's cradle 1
cat's cradle
noun
1
: a game in which a string looped in a pattern like a cradle on the fingers of one person's hands is transferred to the hands of another so as to form a different figure
2
: something that is intricate, complicated, or elaborate
a cat's cradle of red tape
Examples of cat's cradle in a Sentence
a cat's cradle of government regulations
Recent Examples on the Web
The image on the Leopoldstadt playbill is of a young Jewish child playing with a cat's cradle.
—
Christian Holub,
EW.com,
13 Oct. 2022
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Christian Holub,
EW.com,
13 Oct. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Cat's cradle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cat%27s%20cradle. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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