cat's eye
noun
Forms cats' eyes cat's eyes cat's-eye catseye
- noun (countable, especially Commonwealth, usually in the plural) A retroreflective device placed on a road surface as a marking that can be seen even at night.
- noun (countable) A glass marble with elongated colourful inclusions running through its axis.
- noun A gemstone exhibiting chatoyancy.
- noun (mineralogy) Cymophane (translucent yellow chatoyant chrysoberyl).
- noun (countable, New Zealand) A sea snail, Lunella smaragda
- noun Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cat, eye.; the eye of a cat.
Synonyms
cat-eye
Etymology
An allusion to the way a cat's eyes will appear to glow when illuminated in the dark. In mineralogy, a calque of French œil de chat.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “cat's eye”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details