English

A European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris)

An American wildcat (Lynx rufus) portrayed by John Audubon

Alternative forms

• wild-cat, wild cat

Noun

wildcat ‎(plural wildcats)

1. A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically
   1. (Britain) Felis silvestris, a common small Old World wild cat somewhat larger than a house cat.
   2. (US) A bobcat (Lynx rufus) or other similar New World species of lynx.
   3. Any feral cat.
   4. (uncommon) Alternative spelling of wild cat, any undomesticated felid, as tigers or lions.
      • 2003 April 24, CNN

        Upon checking it out, we found a total of 13 newborn wildcats: nine newborn tigers and two newborn leopards.

2. (figuratively) A person who acts like a wildcat, (usually) a violent and easily-angered person or a sexually vigorous one.
   • 2002 September 26, The Young and the Restless

     Anyone who's man enough to have landed a wildcat like you had to be quite a guy.

3. (American football) An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.
4. (nautical) A wheel that can be adjusted so as to revolve either with or on the shaft of a capstan.
5. (firearms) Short for wildcat cartridge, a customized or hand-made cartridge.
6. (uncommon) Short for wildcat strike, a strike undertaken without authorization from the relevant trade union.
7. (obsolete) Short for wildcat money, notes issued by a wildcat bank.

Hypernyms

• (felines): See cat, lynx, and wild cat

Synonyms

• (Eurasian wildcats): desert cat
• (American wildcats): See bobcat
• (wild house cats): See feral cat

Hyponyms

• (Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies): European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), African wildcat (F. s. lybica), Asiatic wildcat (F. s. ornata), Southern African wildcat (F. s. cafra), Chinese mountain cat (F. s. bieti)
• (Eurasian wildcats, informal types): Abyssinian wildcat, Arabian wildcat, Balearic wildcat, bay wildcats, bush wildcats, Caucasian wildcat, Corsica wildcat, Cretan wildcat, East African wildcat, forest wildcats, Hausa wildcat, Iraqi wildcat, Kalahari wildcat, Mid-belt wildcat, Mongolian wildcat, Rhodesian wildcat, Scottish wildcat, steppe wildcats, Syrian wildcat, Tristram's wildcat, Turkestan wildcat, Ugandan wildcat

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Wildcat formation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• (Eurasian wildcat): Martelli's wildcat (F. lunensis), sand cat, jungle cat, black-footed cat
• (American wildcat): See bobcat and lynx

Adjective

wildcat ‎(not comparable)

1. (usually pejorative) Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially:
   • 1946, Sigurd Jay Simonsen, The Mongrels

     Then the development of the home country was neglected for some wildcat idea of bringing up the backward people of other lands.

   1. (pejorative, dated) Of or concerning irresponsible banks or banking, (particularly) small, independent operations.
   2. Of or concerning oil exploration in new areas, (particularly) small, independent operations.
   3. Of or concerning actions undertaken by workers without approval or in defiance of the formal leadership of their trade unions.
2. (firearms) Of or concerning customized or hand-made cartridges.
3. Unauthorized by the proper authorities.
   • 2003 June 15, CNN

     Jewish settlers have also been active putting up five new wildcat outposts on hilltops in the West Bank to try to thwart their Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Derived terms

• wildcat bank, wildcat banking, wildcat note, wildcat money, wildcat currency
• wildcat strike

Translations

Verb

wildcat ‎(third-person singular simple present wildcats, present participle wildcatting, simple past and past participle wildcatted)

1. To drill for oil in an area where no oil has been found before.

   You'd have to be very rich or very desperate to go wildcatting that far east.

Derived terms

• wildcatter

References

1. ↑ Wittmann, Matthew. "The Wildcat Bank of Brest" for Pocket Change: The Blog of the American Numismatic Society. 14 May 2015.
2. ↑ Dunbar, Willis F. & al. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State, pp. 222 ff.
3. ↑ Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. "Wild-cat". G. & C. Merriam Co., 1913.
4. ↑ Dwyer, Gerald P. Jr. "Wildcat Banking, Banking Panics, and Free Banking in the United States" for Economic Review. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 1996.