cats' concert

Definitions

1. The cacophony of meows, hisses, and other vocalizations that cats make during a period of social interaction.
2. Any confusing or intolerable combination of voices.
   broadly, figuratively

Examples

“On the night in question⟳, the whole house was awakened by a dreadful cats'-concert. Two or three of the gang of ill-bred, shabby cats that ran wild over the brick roofs of our town were sitting on the general's terrace screaming at the top of their repulsive voices.”

“A cats' concert, usually a nocturnal event, is a discordant din, and caterwauling, from Middle English and Middle Dutch words meaning "tomcat" and "wailing," came by the 14th century to mean⟳ the ugliest of feline noises.”

“The feral Siamese have⟳ been holding a cats' concert in the night, a maniacal caterwauling that sends a shiver down the spine of every vertebrate on the island, whether quick or dead.”

“One of the most horrible sounds imaginable is that produced by several fine voices all singing different songs. This cats' concert (as school-girls call⟳ it) results in a shocking and yet ludicrous discord, equally frightful and laughable. And yet all the performers are singing individually well. Try⟳ it.”

“At first I was reminded of the days of my childhood, when for our amusement each selected his or her own⟳ tune⟳, and then, at a given signal, all struck up at once, each maintaining his own⟳ - we called them "cats' concerts".”

CEFR level