Meaning of have kittens | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To become extremely upset.
   Commonwealth, UK, informal
2. To be in a state of frantic nervousness.
   informal
3. Usually of a female cat, to give birth to kittens.

Equivalents

Examples

“Your mum will have⟳ kittens when she sees what you've done to your hair!”

“My teacher has kittens every time I get⟳ a question⟳ wrong.”

“He re-gurgled. “But this is terrible.” “Might be considerably better, I agree⟳.” “Your uncle will be most upset⟳.” “He'll have⟳ kittens.””

“‘Prepare⟳ yourself,’ he warned. ‘Your dad is having kittens.’”

“The guests are starting to arrive⟳, but the hostess is having kittens because nothing is ready yet.”

“Phipps went on: “One of our chaps, out on a reccy over the Bulgarian front, thought he saw⟳ something in the snow⟳. Something fishy. He dropped down to have⟳ a dekko and nearly had kittens. What d'you think⟳? Jerry's got a mass of stuff there—tanks, guns, lorries, every sort⟳ of heavy armament. All camouflaged. White.””

CEFR level