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I was reading a New Yorker article about the "city" under Paris it was mentioned that there is another meaning besides cat flap for chatière. However my google-fu appears to be weak today, and I can't seem to figure out what it is.

from The Invisible City Under Paris

Chatière means cat-flap, as well as something a bit less polite than that...

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    I've never heard anyone saying chatière in a slang way, I didn't even know it could have this meaning of a vagina, even if, of course, like any object that can be "penetrated", you can imagine this meaning I guess. The slang word almost everyone uses for vagina is chatte, which means "female cat" and can be seen as the equivalent of "pussy" in English, and most people avoid using it in its first meaning because of the strong connotation (like "pussy", "ass", or "bitch" in English I guess).
    – Destal
    Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 15:15
  • I'd rather think that "chatte" is the vulva rather than the vagina.
    – MasB
    Commented Jan 6 at 17:30

3 Answers 3

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There is a plentiful crop of synonyms for this argot word; those below come from this reference. It means "sexe de la femme", according to the synonyms.

chatière (n.f.) (argotique)

foune, berlingot (argotique), chagatte (Pej Arg Pop), chatte (vulgaire), con (argotique, vulgaire), divertissoire (argotique), écu (argotique), foufoune (familier), frifri (argotique), losange (familier, figuré), mimi (familier), minette (familier), minou (familier), minouche (familier), moule (argotique, populaire), salle des fêtes (argotique), trou (argotique), zézette (enfantin, familier), zigouigoui (argotique)

foune : (ref), sexe de la femme
berlingot : ref, as above
chagatte: ref, as above
…

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    On peut le dire grossier, le con chanté par Brassens, mais en aucun cas vulgaire. Un personnage vulgaire trouvera des sous-entendus vulgaires à chaque mot de la vie courante, mais le mot con lui-même ne l’est pas.
    – Personne
    Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 7:53
  • @cl-r Dans Le Blason, Brassens déplore qu'on ait donné à cette partie de l'anatomie le même nom qu'une foule de gens, et refuse à employer le mot con dans ce sens-là.
    – Damien
    Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 10:05
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    It can be noted that it's one of the less used terms.
    – MakorDal
    Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 12:16
  • I must admit I didn't even suspect some of these words to designate the female genitals. Some are certainly very outdated and "con" is one of them from where I see it...
    – Laurent S.
    Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 12:37
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    @cl-r Selon moi, con n'est pas vulgaire pour désigner un malcomprenant, mais le devient pour désigner les organes génitaux féminins. Au minimum, pas très élégant
    – Damien
    Commented Nov 18, 2019 at 17:14
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Oh, my, these answers are all (understandably) on the wrong track entirely. I am an American linguist who lives in Paris. I can tell you that the slang term "chatiere" (cat flap) is not related to "chatte" (pussy). It is Parisian slang for a bisexual person, because a cat flap "swings both ways".

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    Chatière is also a slang word for the female sex, nothing in the New-Yorker article implies your answer is better and the other is "on the wrong track entirely".
    – None
    Commented Jan 1 at 15:22
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    – Community Bot
    Commented Jan 2 at 1:37
  • intersting. It would be better to have a source or at least some detail : is it recent slang or not ? Though I never heard "chatière" used for "chatte", it would not be suprising to have some variation around a very common slang word like this one.
    – XouDo
    Commented Jan 3 at 17:50
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A chatière in the context of the Paris Catacombs is a small hole or tunnel that has been dug by Cataphiles through a barrier or wall or to join two layers of tunnels together. The aim is to provide access where it was previously not possible.

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    This doesn't answer the question!
    – Toto
    Commented Feb 9 at 18:21
  • That's not what the question is asking.
    – None
    Commented Feb 9 at 18:21

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