a cat on a hot tin roof

a cat on a hot tin roof

One who is anxious and unable to sit still or relax. A: "Why is Carrie pacing?" B: "She's waiting for the doctor to call with her test results, so she's been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day."
See also: cat, hot, on, roof, tin
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cat on a hot tin roof

A Southernism that meant someone who was on edge or nervous. The phrase survives as the title of Tennessee Williams's 1955 Pulitzer Prize–winning drama.
See also: cat, hot, on, roof, tin
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • cat on a hot tin roof
  • like a cat on a hot tin roof
  • be like a cat on a hot tin roof
  • be on edge
  • on pins and needles
  • on edge
  • het
  • be dragging (one's) feet
  • be dragging your feet
  • on the road to stardom
References in periodicals archive
TENNESSEE Williams's tour de force A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof will be performed at Theatr Gwynedd in the coming week.