cat's-paw

as in pawn
one that is or can be used to further the purposes of another these changes to the zoning laws have only confirmed for many that the town council has become the cat's-paw of local real estate developers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cat's-paw
Noun
  • My values include the beliefs that all of our students should feel safe, respected, and valued in our schools, that decisions should be made on the best available evidence and data, that our kids are not political pawns, that inclusion creates opportunity, and that schools shouldn’t ban books.
    Grace Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Remember the big picture, people, and stop using taxpayers as pawns, or worse yet, collateral damage.
    Boston Herald editorial staff, Boston Herald, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The innovation could pave the way for medical tools that move through the body’s arteries or inspection devices that crawl into complex machinery.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Toys, even ones marketed as tools for the imagination, are never value neutral.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Cat's-paw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cat%27s-paw. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

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