sea-cat, noun

Origin:
Dutch, AfrikaansShow more Translation of Dutch zeekat, zee sea + kat cat. (The modern Afrikaans form is seekat, see seekat.)
catfish sense 1. Also attributive.
1785 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 26The sepia loligo, and the sepia octopodia,..are known to our sailors by the name of black-fish and sea-cats.
1882 Cape Quarterly Rev. Oct. 36Even the sea cat responded to the hook.
1913 W.W. Thompson Sea Fisheries of Cape Col. 51The octopus or sea-cat (Octopus horridus) appears to find a more congenial habitat on the rocky stretches of sea-board on the south and east coasts.
1926 P.W. Laidler Tavern of Ocean 77Strange dishes appeared on the tables: stewed ‘klip kos,’ a large Venus-ear shellfish; sea-cat soup.
1930 C.L. Biden Sea-Angling Fishes 273It’s the surest sign of a sea-cat down below...Ten to one the sea-cat shoots out from under the rock...Be quick and gaff it..and then you have bait for the day.
1939 A.P. Cartwright in Outspan 24 Nov. 79On the coast of the Cape Peninsula they call an octopus a ‘sea-cat’.
1957 S. Schoeman Strike! 210Bait supplies are plentiful, redbait, fish bait, seacat and mussels being the favourite baits used.
1973 E. Prov. Herald 28 Nov. 37A whole mullet gleamed dully in the lantern light with half a big seacat, tentacles trailing enticingly.
1985 A. Tredgold Bay between Mountains 125A triumph of the visit was to see a seacat swim...Its lumpy shape became a comet, streaming across the tank, bulbous body in front and tentacles flying out behind.
catfish sense 1. Also attributive.
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sea bamboo, noun phrasen. phr.sea-cow, nounn.
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