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
  • What follows across ten episodes are assassination attempts, uneasy alliances, and deft political manoeuvring as the regents use Blackthorne like a pawn.
    Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 May 2025
  • At that point, the Kremlin can use Iran as a pawn to make deals with other powers.
    Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Noun
  • Jobs emerged in an era when the cost of coordination was high and the tools for distributing tasks were limited.
    John Winsor, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
  • There’s no one tool that’s gonna work for the duration.
    Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 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 29 May. 2025.

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