singing jazz; the singer substitutes nonsense syllables for the words of the song and tries to sound like a musical instrument
"During the live performance, the vocalist began scatting over the piano solo by improvising with rhythmic nonsense syllables that mimicked the trumpet's melody."
A tax; tribute.
"The biologist identified several species of scat swimming near the mangrove roots."
Animal excrement; droppings, dung.
Scat singing.
Any fish in the family Scatophagidae
In plain English: Scat is slang for nonsense talk that sounds funny but means nothing.
"The baby made a loud scat noise while playing with her rattle."
Usage: In music contexts, "scat" refers to improvised vocal solos using nonsense syllables rather than actual words. Avoid confusing this term with its verb form meaning to flee or run away quickly.
flee; take to one's heels; cut and run
"If you see this man, run!"
"The burglars escaped before the police showed up"
To sing an improvised melodic solo using nonsense syllables, often onomatopoeic or imitative of musical instruments.
"Scat, you're blocking the exit!"
To leave quickly (often used in the imperative).
In plain English: To scat means to speak without using any real words, just making up sounds and rhythms instead.
"The cat scratched at her door and started to scat when she didn't answer quickly enough."
The word "scat" comes from Old English and Old Norse terms meaning property or treasure. It traces its roots back to a Germanic root related to cattle that originally referred to wealth before evolving into the modern slang for feces.