catnap
noun
- a very short light nap
verb
- take a short nap
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkætˌnæp/
noun
Etymology: From cat + nap. Named in reference to the feline habit of taking multiple, brief, and light naps throughout the day to conserve energy, rather than sleeping for one long, uninterrupted block.
- A brief, light sleep, usually during the daytime.
“Besides, I reflected, Joe might easily have become a catnapper, as so many millions of other Americans had become since Sarah Perkins, during the campaign, had made it so widely known that although the incumbent President slept in a bed with the covers over him for three and sometimes four hours a night, she herself never slept at all except for the catnaps.”
“A toddler who is still having two day sleeps will generally have one good sleep and one catnap, and a toddler who is around three years of age and getting close to dropping her day sleep will catnap.”
verb
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *kattuz Proto-West Germanic *kattu Old English catt Middle English cat English cat English -nap English catnap From cat + -nap.
- To kidnap a cat.
“When you suspect your cat's up a tree because he was chased or now locked up in the parked car because someone conspired to catnap him (he is quite the personality), what economic scales could they employ to set ransom?”
“The man thought, if she refuses, I could catnap it early one Wednesday afternoon while she's dozing. Leave a bogus ransom note?”