tear-cat
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English[edit]
Noun[edit]
- (obsolete, acting) An overactor.
- 1606, John Day, The Isle of Gulls, in White, Thomas, editor, The Old English Drama[1], volume 4, published 1830, Induction, page 15:
- Fie upon't, mere fustian; I had rather hear two good bawdy jests then a whole play of such tear-cat thunder-claps.
- 1611, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girl[2], act 5, scene 1:
- I am cal'd by those that have seen my valour, Tear-Cat.
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
References[edit]
- Mackay, Charles (1884) New Light on Some Obscure Words and Phrases in the Works of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries[3], Tear Cat, page 63: “This odd epithet was applied in the seventeenth century to violent and ranting actors who overdid their parts.”