Dictionary

cat and mouse en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A relationship in which two parties closely monitor and challenge one another in a suspicious or self-protective manner, often because each party is attempting to gain an advantage over the other.
   • The Lizard however has first to contend with Akechi, Japan's number-one detective, who has been hired by the jeweler to protect his possessions. Akechi and the Lizard match wits and play cat-and-mouse while flinging weighty epigrams on crime, romance and beauty at each other. 1992 February 2, S.H. Chua, “Cars, Guns and Go-Go Chicks”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 7:
   • The hackers played a cat and mouse game with the system administrators: the hackers kept trying new tricks, and the system administrators kept mounting electronic defenses.
   • She loved their daily rides, the easy banter, the flirtatious game of cat and mouse they played. 2014, Alison Weir, The Marriage Game:
   • In practice, however, it is extremely difficult to form a new union and the unions are engaged in a constant game of cat and mouse with the Registrar. 2007, Marvin J. Levine, Worker Rights and Labor Standards in Asia’s Four New Tigers:
   • The Allied and the enemy submarine played a game of cat and mouse, checking up on each other's whereabouts and strategies.
2. (uncountable) A form of attack in which the attacker toys with the victim by inflicting minor damage or letting the victim have futile hopes of escape before finally finishing the victim off.
   • He was thinking how wonderful this game of cat and mouse was. He loved the game and the feeling of control he had over this poor innocent girl. 2009, Judith C. Issette, Messenger of Death, page 34:
   • She told of narrow escapes and a harried game of cat and mouse, until eventually she'd reached the darkened jungle in which Torys had found her. 2014, Mark Derbyshire, New Worlds, page 30:
   • The payback for that would come in the form of a prolonged game of cat and mouse, finally culminating in a deadly game that he had perfected years earlier. 2009, Jarlon Magee, Travel in Fear:
3. (uncountable) A children's game in which one player (the "cat") attempts to break through a ring of players to catch another player (the "mouse") in the centre.

Coordinates

cat and dog

Relateds

which way the cat jumps · wait for the cat to jump

Translations (20)

es juego del gato y el ratón (two keeping check on one another) · te పిల్లీ ఎలుకా దొంగాట (two keeping check on one another) · jv kucing-kucingan (two keeping check on one another) · fi kissa ja hiiri -leikki (two keeping check on one another) · de Katz-und-Maus-Spiel (two keeping check on one another) · it giocare a gatto e topo (two keeping check on one another) · pl but see bawić się w kotka i myszkę (two keeping check on one another) · bg котка и мишка (two keeping check on one another) · pt jogo de gato e rato (two keeping check on one another) · fr jeu du chat et de la souris (two keeping check on one another) · cs hra na kočku a myš (two keeping check on one another) · ro jocul de-a șoarecele și pisica (two keeping check on one another) · ja いたちごっこ (two keeping check on one another) · ru ко́шки-мы́шки (two keeping check on one another) · cs na kočku a na myš (two keeping check on one another) · cs na kočku a myš (two keeping check on one another) · nl kat-en-muisspel (two keeping check on one another) · cmn 貓捉老鼠的遊戲 /猫捉老鼠的游戏 (two keeping check on one another) · cs hra na kočku a na myš (two keeping check on one another) · hu macska-egér játék (two keeping check on one another)

cat and mouse en · VERB

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of cat-and-mouse.
   alt of cat-and-mouse
   • And I've made up my mind not to be cat and moused any more. 1931, John Collis Snaith, Indian Summer, page 39:
   • Careful not to draw deep blood, I cat and moused him for another moment or two as the audience stared in awe. 2011, Max Hobby, Oshgomshee and the Princess Syleen:
   • I am tired of being cat and moused, and for that reason I expect to vote against proposals which I am in favor of in principle, until we can have hearings on them, to determine whether they are economically viable and constitutionally sustainable. 1967, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means, Legislative History of H.R. 6950: 90th Congress, to Restore the Investment Credit and the Allowance of Accelerated Depreciation in the Case of Certain Real Property.:
   • She was attractive in her white uniform and Brown had cat and moused her for a long time without real enthusiasm. 1965, Anthony Boucher, The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, page 193:
   • ...K-Rl 30 N-B6, the game would be over unless we have more cat and mousing by 30 . 1971, Chess Life & Review - Volume 26, page 441:

Forms