scat

scat¹

/skat/, v.i., scatted, scatting. Informal.

to go off hastily (often used in the imperative).

[1865-70, Amer.; of uncert. orig.]

scat²

/skat/, v., scatted, scatting, n. Jazz.

v.i.

1. to sing by making full or partial use of the technique of scat singing.

n.

2. See scat singing.

[1925-30; of uncert. orig.]

scat³

/skat/, n.

the excrement of an animal.

[1925-30; orig. uncert.; cf. Brit. dial. (SW) scat to scatter, fling down, bespatter; Gk skat- (s. of skôr dung; see SCATO-) is unlikely source, given popular character of the word and unmotivated derivation pattern]

scat⁴

/skat/, n. Slang.

heroin.

[1945-50; of uncert. orig.; cf. earlier scat (slang) whiskey]

scat⁵

/skat/, n.

(in the Shetland and Orkney Islands) a crown tax, as for use of common lands.

Also, scatt.

[1300-50; ME < ON skattr tax, treasure]

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▪ fish family

      in biology, any of four species of fishes constituting the family Scatophagidae (order Perciformes). The few species are placed into two genera, Selenotoca and Scatophagus. They are found in marine waters or estuaries of the Indo-Pacific region from the western coast of India to New Guinea and northern Australia and also along the coast of Africa. Occasionally they may enter various freshwater habitats. Scats are known as scavengers, eating decaying plant and animal remains and fecal matter.

 The best-known species, the scat, or argus fish (S. argus; see photograph—>), is a popular freshwater aquarium fish when small. Scats commonly reach a length of 30 cm (1 foot). The young are colourful little fish with reddish or greenish bodies dotted with black spots, but the adults gradually lose their bright colours and become dull.

 

▪ music

also called  Scat Singing,  

 in music, jazz vocal style using emotive, onomatopoeic, and nonsense syllables instead of words in solo improvisations on a melody. Scat has dim antecedents in the West African practice of assigning fixed syllables to percussion patterns, but the style was made popular by trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong (Armstrong, Louis) from 1927 on. The popular theory that scat singing began when a vocalist forgot the lyrics may be true, but this origin does not explain the persistence of the style. Earlier, as an accompanist to singers, notably the blues singer Bessie Smith (Smith, Bessie), Armstrong played riffs that took on vocalization qualities. His scat reversed the process. Later scat singers fitted their styles, all individualized, to the music of their times. Ella Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald, Ella) phrased her scat with the fluidity of a saxophone. Earlier, Cab Calloway (Calloway, Cab) became known as the “Hi-De-Ho” man for his wordless choruses. Sarah Vaughan (Vaughan, Sarah)'s improvisations included bebop harmonic advances of the 1940s. By the mid-1960s Betty Carter was exploiting extremes of range and flexibility of time similar to those of saxophonist John Coltrane (Coltrane, John). The vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross also phonetically imitated horn solos. In the 1960s the Swingle Singers recorded classical numbers using scat syllables but generally without improvisation.

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