Cathead

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkæthɛd/

Definitions

1. A crane mounted on a ship used to lift the anchor ; a heavy timber projecting forward from a ship’s bow to support the anchor or tackle
2. A device on a vessel for hoisting the anchor ; a broad wooden spar extending from the bow for anchor handling
3. The shipboard hoisting apparatus for raising the anchor ; a stout beam on the bow to hold the anchor during retrieval

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "cathead" is that the cat is not really the point: the name comes from a heavy timber on a ship's bow, which was traditionally carved at its end with the head of a lion or large cat. Those two projecting beams held the anchor clear of the hull while it hung ready to be let go, and the name simply describes what they looked like. The same name was later applied to a very different object. In American Appalachian cooking, a "cat head biscuit" is a large, round biscuit, named because it is about the size of a cat's head. The word's use for that biscuit is a separate, later sense, not a link back to the ship.