CAT,
a common Whore or Prostitute. Who shall hang the bell about the Cat's Neck? Who shall begin the Attack first? said of a desperate Undertaking.
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Entry taken from 1736 Canting Dictionary, by Nathan Bailey.
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Cat in the 1811 Vulgar Tongue
Also see examples in Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes collected by John S. Farmer (1896).