Cat's"-paw` (?), n.
1. Naut. (a)
A light transitory air which ruffles the surface of the water during a calm, or the ripples made by such a puff of air.
(b)
A particular hitch or turn in the bight of a rope, into which a tackle may be hooked.
2.
A dupe; a tool; one who, or that which, is used by another as an instrument to a accomplish his purposes.
⇒ In this sense the term refers to the fable of the monkey using the cat's paw to draw the roasting chestnuts out of the fire.
© Webster 1913.