English

Adjective

cat-and-mouse ‎(not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) suspenseful, involving alternating roles of attack and defence.
   • 2012 February 15, Jonathan McEvoy, “Hoy and Kenny keep it friendly but barnstorming Olympic battle looms at the Velodrome”, in Daily Mail:

     Does that produce a different dynamic when they meet in battle?
     ‘It does,’ said Hoy. ‘I tell myself that it doesn’t matter who you race against, you try to expose their weaknesses. The only difference is that they know your weaknesses. It just makes it a bit more of a mind game, a cat-and-mouse strategy.

   • 2003 December 12, Stephen Holden, “The Statement (2003) FILM REVIEW; A Frenchman on the Run From His Vichy Past”, in New York Times:

     A cat-and-mouse thriller with delusions of grandeur, The Statement arrives wrapped in an intimidating mystique of high-minded solemnity that makes its vagueness and incoherence all the more disappointing when the pieces don't add up.

Noun

cat-and-mouse ‎(uncountable)

1. Alternative form of cat and mouse