n.
Function: 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