Catnapper

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who takes a short sleep or nap.

    "Besides, I reflected, Joe might easily have become a catnapper, as so many millions of other Americans had become since Sarah Perkins, during the campaign, had made it so widely known that although the incumbent President slept in a bed with the covers over him for three and sometimes four hours a night, she herself never slept at all except for the catnaps."

  2. 2
    The kidnapper of a cat.

    "Mr. Harding was contacted by the catnappers, and arrangements were made for him to pay a ransom and recover the animal."

Example

More examples

"Besides, I reflected, Joe might easily have become a catnapper, as so many millions of other Americans had become since Sarah Perkins, during the campaign, had made it so widely known that although the incumbent President slept in a bed with the covers over him for three and sometimes four hours a night, she herself never slept at all except for the catnaps."

Etymology

From catnap + -er or blend of cat + kidnapper.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.