kitten

noun

1. a young cat.

verb (used with or without object)

2. (of cats) to give birth; bear.

noun

1. a young cat
2. have kittens or have a canary British informal to react with disapproval, anxiety, etcshe had kittens when she got the bill US equivalent: have a cow

verb

3. (of cats) to give birth to (young)

n.

late 14c., probably from an Anglo-French variant of Old French chitoun (Old North French caton) “little cat,” from chat “cat,” from Late Latin cattus (see cat). Applied playfully to a young girl, a sweetheart, from 1870.

see have a fit (kittens); weak as a kitten.