kittens

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of kitten.

   The shelter takes in dozens of kittens every spring.

   Newborn kittens cannot open their eyes for about a week.

   Note

   The same spelling does two jobs. As a noun it means more than one young cat, and it is also the verb for giving birth, as in "the farm cat kittens in the hayloft." The noun reaches past cats to the young of rabbits, rats, hedgehogs, squirrels, foxes and beavers, and to moths of the genus Furcula. In colloquial speech it can also be a fond term for women.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of kitten.

   The old farm cat kittens in the same hayloft every year.

   If a queen kittens too young, the litter is often smaller.

   Note

   Only a singular subject takes this form: the queen kittens, but queens kitten. The verb works two ways. Used intransitively, it stands alone (she kittens in the same hayloft). Used transitively, it takes the litter as its object (she kittens four). Its subject is the mother cat, so it rarely strays from talk of breeding and farm animals, unlike the plural noun with its wider reach.

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