[wild.cat] n, pl wildcats (14c) 1 a: a cat (Felis silvestris) of Eurasia and Africa that resembles but is heavier in build than the domestic tabby cat and is usu. held to be among the ancestors of the domestic cat b or pl 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
[2]wildcat adj (1838) 1 a (1): financially irresponsible or unreliable "~ banks" (2): issued by a financially irresponsible banking establishment "~ currency" b: operating, produced, or carried on outside the bounds of standard or legitimate business practices "~ 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 ~ strike" "~ 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 [3]wildcat vi wild.cat.ted ; wild.cat.ting (1883): to prospect and drill an experimental oil or gas well or sink a mine shaft in territory not known to be productive