Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

there's more than one way to skin a cat

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.46 in modern English

Syllables: there's -more than one way -to skin a -cat
IPA

50

Scrabble Score

30

Letters

4

Syllables

14

Unique Chars

Meaning

proverb

A problem generally has more than one solution; there is more than one way to achieve a goal.

Example Sentences

"At any rate, thought I, there's more than one way to skin a cat, as a butcher would say."
"This is a money digging world of ours; and, as it is said, "there are more ways than one to skin a cat," so are there more ways than one of digging for money. But, in some mode or other, this seems to be the universal occupation of the sons of Adam."
"But then the Church came to the front, with an axe to grind; and she was wise, subtle, and knew more than one way to skin a cat—or a nation; […]"
"Relator was, undoubtedly, at this point reminded of the old saying: "There is more than one way to skin a cat"; because he was saying the same thing in different terminology and tied it in with his original statement by saying "as I stated"."
"Nissan has elected to concentrate its European operations in Sunderland, including battery development, precisely because Boris Johnson has brought forward the phase-out date for petrol and diesel vehicles to 2030. […] However, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and cheaper options for ultra-low emitting vehicles are just around the corner."

Etymology

Origin unknown. Other proverbs with the same meaning referencing the killing of animals are also attested, some as early as the 17th century; see, for example, “there are more ways to kill a dog than hanging” (1678), “there is more than one way to kill a cat” (1833), and “more ways of killing a cat than choking her with cream” (1855).

Inflected Forms

there are many ways to skin a cat (alternative)

Phrases

if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

Frequently Paired Words

if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail TMTOWTDI

Synonyms

all roads lead to Rome there's more than one way to cook an egg there's more than one way to crack an egg there's more than one way to peel an orange there's more than one way to feed a cat there's more than one way to fuck a cat

Questions

What does there's more than one way to skin a cat mean?: A problem generally has more than one solution; there is more than one way to achieve a goal.
Where does there's more than one way to skin a cat come from?: Origin unknown. Other proverbs with the same meaning referencing the killing of animals are also attested, some as early as the 17th century; see, for example, “there are more ways to kill a dog than hanging” (1678), “there is more than one way to kill a cat” (1833), and “more ways of killing a cat than choking her with cream” (1855).

How to pronounce there's more than one way to skin a cat

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