1. ‘A kind of apple’ (J.).
1617. Rider, A Cats head, Pomum decumanum.
1676. Worlidge, Cider (1691), 207. The Cats head, by some called the Go-no-further, is a very large Apple.
1767. Abercrombie, Ev. Man Own Gard. (1803), 671/2. List of Fruit Trees. Apples … French rennet, Cat’s head, Leather-coat russet.
2. An ornament in Norman architecture.
1848. Rickman, Goth. Archit. (ed. 5), p. xxiii. The doorway … combines the zigzag and cat’s-head with the tooth ornament.
1853. A. P. S. Dict. of Arch., I, Bird’s Head ornament, sometimes called Bird’s beak head, and Cat’s head molding … decoration consisting of conventional heads of monsters generally terminating in a beard formed of one or more other heads, of foliage, or of beaks.
3. See CAT-HEAD.
