I. ˈwī(-ə)l(d)-ˌkat 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
( wild·cat·ted ; wild·cat·ting )
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