Meaning of Cheshire cat | Babel Free

Definitions

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

Equivalents

Examples

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

““Please⟳ would you tell⟳ me,” said Alice, a little timidly, for she was not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak⟳ first, “why your cat grins like⟳ that?” “It’s a Cheshire-Cat,” said the Duchess, “and that’s why.””

“‘It’s almost as if we’ve gone silly with happiness,’ said Marcus two days later. ‘Everyone in the house going round grinning like⟳ a lot of Cheshire Cats! The family I mean⟳.’ ‘And Jess,’ said Kitto quickly. ‘Oh well, Jess is as good as family,’ said Fanny comfortably. Jessamy said nothing, but she looked up quickly and her smile⟳ would have⟳ rivalled any Cheshire Cat.”

“the Cheshire cat idiom”

“the Cheshire cat technique”

CEFR level