Adjacent Words

wildcat definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: outside the bounds of legitimate or ethical business practices; "wildcat currency issued by irresponsible banks"; "wildcat stock speculation"; "a wildcat airline"; "wildcat life insurance schemes"
2: without official authorization; "an unauthorized strike"; "wildcat work stoppage" [syn: unauthorized, unauthorised, wildcat]
3: (of a mine or oil well) drilled speculatively in an area not known to be productive; "drilling there would be strictly a wildcat operation"; "a wildcat mine"; "wildcat drilling"; "wildcat wells" n
1: an exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field [syn: wildcat well, wildcat]
2: a cruelly rapacious person [syn: beast, wolf, savage, brute, wildcat]
3: any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural wildcats) Date: 14th century 1. a. an Old World cat (Felis silvestris) that resembles but is heavier in build than the domestic tabby cat and is usually held to be among the ancestors of the domestic cat b. or plural wildcat any of various small or medium-sized cats (as the lynx or ocelot) c. a feral domestic cat 2. a savage quick-tempered person 3. a. wildcat money b. a wildcat oil or gas well c. a wildcat strike II. adjective Date: 1838 1. a. (1) issued by a financially irresponsible banking establishment <wildcat currency> (2) financially irresponsible or unreliable <wildcat banks> b. operating, produced, or carried on outside the bounds of standard or legitimate business practices <wildcat insurance schemes — H. H. Reichard> c. of, relating to, or being an oil or gas well drilled in territory not known to be productive d. initiated by a group of workers without formal union approval or in violation of a contract <a wildcat strike> <wildcat work stoppages> 2. a. of a cartridge having a bullet of standard caliber but using an expanded case or a case designed for a bullet of greater caliber necked down for the smaller bullet b. of a firearm using wildcat cartridges III. intransitive verb (wildcatted; wildcatting) Date: circa 1903 to prospect and drill an experimental oil or gas well or sink a mine shaft in territory not known to be productive

Britannica Concise

Wild species (Felis silvestris) of cat (family Felidae) native to Eurasian forests. Very similar to the domestic yellowish tabby, it will interbreed with domestic cats (of which it is presumably an ancestor). It is 20-32 in. (50-80 cm) long, excluding the 10-14-in. (25-35-cm) tail. It stands 14-16 in. (35-40 cm) and weighs 6-20 lbs (3-10 kg). Solitary and nocturnal, it preys on birds and small animals. In N. America the name is used for the bobcat and lynx; in Africa it refers to the Caffre cat.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a hot-tempered or violent person. 2 US a bobcat see wild cat. 3 an exploratory oil well. --adj. (attrib.) 1 esp. US reckless; financially unsound. 2 (of a strike) sudden and unofficial.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wildcats) 1. A wildcat is a cat which is very fierce and lives especially in mountains and forests. A giant wildcat is being hunted after 58 lambs were butchered. N-COUNT 2. A wildcat strike happens suddenly, as a result of a decision by a group of workers, and is not officially approved by a trade union. Frustration, anger and desperation have led to a series of wildcat strikes. ADJ: ADJ n

Moby Thesaurus

Jezebel, Leo, Siberian tiger, adventurous, aleatory, beldam, bitch-kitty, bobcat, cat-a-mountain, catamount, chancy, cheetah, cougar, dicey, disobedient, full of risk, fury, grimalkin, hag, hazardous, headstrong, heady, hellcat, hellhag, insubordinate, irresponsible, jaguar, lawless, leopard, licentious, lion, lynx, mountain lion, mutinous, ocelot, painter, panther, puma, rampant, reinless, riskful, risky, self-willed, she-devil, she-wolf, simba, siren, speculative, termagant, tiger, tigress, unaccountable, unbridled, unchecked, uncontrolled, uncurbed, undisciplined, ungoverned, unreined, unrestrained, venturesome, venturous, virago, vixen, willful, witch