From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcat's cradleˌcat’s ˈcradle noun 1 DG[uncountable] a game you play by winding string around your fingers to make different patterns2 [singular] a set of lines, threads etc that form a complicated pattern The searchlights wove a cat’s cradle of light.
Examples from the Corpus
cat's cradle• A flashlight showed the creature roaring, teeth entangled in a cat's cradle of rope.• But not for long, for they make another pledge by tying themselves together in a cat's cradle.• Webs of dust made a cat's cradle about the space.• The boy stroked the girl's side, twisting the walkman lead around his fingers in a one-handed cat's cradle.• I sat on my cot, playing cat's cradle with handcuffs, and kept quiet.• Gazzer looked down into that cat's cradle of turning metal.• As the drop-ship yawed away, fleeing, a hem of the cat's cradle dipped towards it. 