Cat's-paw

n.
  1. A dupe; a tool; one who, or that which, is used by another as an instrument to a accomplish his purposes.
    1. A light transitory air which ruffles the surface of the water during a calm, or the ripples made by such a puff of air.
    2. A particular hitch or turn in the bight of a rope, into which a tackle may be hooked.

In this sense the term refers to the fable of the monkey using the cat's paw to draw the roasting chestnuts out of the fire.