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Cheshire cat

//ˌtʃɛʃɚ ˈkæt// name

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A fictional cat with a broad fixed grin, made popular by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).

    "CHESHIRE CAT. He grins like a Cheshire cat; said of any one who shows his teeth and gums in laughing."

  2. 2
    A technique that involves hiding a class's data behind a pointer, so that the code remains binary-compatible even after future changes to members and functionality. attributive

    "the Cheshire cat idiom"

Etymology

Term attested since at least the 1780s in the expression grin like a Cheshire cat. The reason why Cheshire was combined with cat is disputed: see here for more information.

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