Dictionary

wildcat en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈwaɪldˌkæt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈwaɪ.əlʔˌkæt] (General-American)
• /ˈwaɪ.əldˌkæt/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt. Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, not-comparable, usually) Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially
   • Then the development of the home country was neglected for some wildcat idea of bringing up the backward people of other lands. 1946, Sigurd Jay Simonsen, The Mongrels:
   • […] the Tank being a small arena theatre located out between a traffic analysis firm and a wildcat transistor outfit that hadn't been there last year and wouldn't be this coming but meanwhile was underselling even the Japanese and hauling in loot by the steamshovelful. 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 44:
2. (dated, derogatory, not-comparable, usually) Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially: ▸ Of or concerning irresponsible banks or banking, (particularly) small, independent operations.
3. (derogatory, not-comparable, qualifier:oil industry, usually) Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially: ▸ Of or concerning oil exploration in new areas, (particularly) small, independent operations.
4. (derogatory, not-comparable, usually) Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially: ▸ Of or concerning actions undertaken by workers without approval or in defiance of the formal leadership of their trade unions.
5. (not-comparable) Of or concerning customized or hand-made cartridges.
6. (not-comparable) Unauthorized by the proper authorities.
   • 2003 June 15, CNN Jewish settlers have also been active putting up five new wildcat outposts on hilltops in the West Bank to try to thwart their Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Forms

Deriveds

wildcat currency · wildcat money · wildcat note · semiwildcat · wildcat bank · wildcat banking · wildcat strike

Translations (2)

fi villi (unauthorized by the proper authorities) · fi luvaton (unauthorized by the proper authorities)

wikipedia: John Audubon

wildcat en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈwaɪldˌkæt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈwaɪ.əlʔˌkæt] (General-American)
• /ˈwaɪ.əldˌkæt/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt. Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.

Meanings

1. (UK) A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically: ▸ Felis silvestris, a common small Old World wild cat somewhat larger than a house cat.
2. (US) A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically: ▸ A bobcat (Lynx rufus) or other similar New World species of lynx.
3. A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically: ▸ Any feral cat.
4. (alt-of, alternative, uncommon) A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically: ▸ Alternative spelling of wild cat, any undomesticated felid, as tigers or lions.
   alt of any undomesticated felid
   alt of as tigers or lions
   alt of wild cat
   • 2003 April 24, CNN Upon checking it out, we found a total of 13 newborn wildcats: nine newborn tigers and two newborn leopards.
5. (figuratively) A person who acts like a wildcat, (usually) a violent and easily-angered person or a sexually vigorous one.
   • 2002 September 26, The Young and the Restless Anyone who's man enough to have landed a wildcat like you had to be quite a guy.
6. An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.
7. A wheel that can be adjusted so as to revolve either with or on the shaft of a capstan.
8. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping) Clipping of wildcat cartridge.
   alt of wildcat cartridge
9. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, uncommon) Clipping of wildcat strike (“a strike undertaken without authorization from the relevant trade union”).
   alt of wildcat strike
10. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, obsolete) Clipping of wildcat money (“notes issued by a wildcat bank”).
    alt of wildcat money

Forms

Deriveds

Turkestan wildcat · Caucasian wildcat · African wildcat · Rhodesian wildcat · Asian steppe wildcat · Balearic wildcat · Syrian wildcat · European wildcat · Corsica wildcat · Tristram's wildcat · bay wildcat · Martelli's wildcat · Mongolian wildcat · Kalahari wildcat · Scottish wildcat · Highland wildcat · Arabian wildcat · forest wildcat · Iraqi wildcat · Hausa wildcat · Southern African wildcat · Near Eastern wildcat · Asiatic wildcat · Abyssinian wildcat · Ugandan wildcat · bush wildcat · Cretan wildcat · wildcat well · East African wildcat · wildcat sandwich · Mid-belt wildcat

Hypernyms

lynx (felines) · and wild cat (felines) · cat (felines)

Hyponyms

Syrian wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Turkestan wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Abyssinian wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Chinese mountain cat (Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies) · Balearic wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · bay wildcats (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · East African wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Scottish wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · European wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies) · Ugandan wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Southern African wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies) · Rhodesian wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Hausa wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Mongolian wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · steppe wildcats (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Iraqi wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Arabian wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · forest wildcats (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · bush wildcats (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Caucasian wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Corsica wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Asiatic wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies) · Tristram's wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Cretan wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · African wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies) · Mid-belt wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types) · Kalahari wildcat (Eurasian wildcats, informal types)

Synonyms

feral cat (wild house cats) · bobcat (American wildcats) · desert cat (Eurasian wildcats)

Translations (57)

af wildekat (Felis silvestris) · el αγριόγατα (person who acts like a wildcat) · sog ܡܫܟܥܢܤܗ (Felis silvestris) · fi villikissa (Felis silvestris) · ast gatu montés (Felis silvestris) · fa گربه بیابانی (Felis silvestris) · ca gat salvatge (Felis silvestris) · bg дива котка (Felis silvestris) · ja ヤマネコ (Felis silvestris) · pl żbik (Felis silvestris) · win wicąwą hįįšek (Felis silvestris) · el αγριόγατα (Felis silvestris) · lv meža kaķis (Felis silvestris) · gd cat-fiadhaich (Felis silvestris) · cmn 野貓 /野猫 (Felis silvestris) · as হেপা (Felis silvestris) · cs kočka divoká (Felis silvestris) · ar ضَيْوَن (Felis silvestris) · fr chat sauvage (Felis silvestris) · hu dög (person who acts like a wildcat) · sog ܡܘܫܟܝܫܤ (Felis silvestris) · ru ди́кая ко́шка (Felis silvestris) · ru лесно́й кот (Felis silvestris) · es gato montés (Felis silvestris) · oc gat salvatge (Felis silvestris) · gl gato montés (Felis silvestris) · ru лесна́я ко́шка (Felis silvestris) · pt gato-montês (Felis silvestris) · dsb źiwa kocka (Felis silvestris) · pt gato-bravo (Felis silvestris) · cy cath wyllt (Felis silvestris) · no villkatt (Felis silvestris) · se meahccebussá (Felis silvestris) · fi metsäkissa (Felis silvestris) · pt gato-selvagem (Felis silvestris) · gl gato bravo (Felis silvestris) · qu osgo (Felis silvestris) · eu basakatu (Felis silvestris) · es gato salvaje (Felis silvestris) · fa گربهی وحشی (Felis silvestris) · tr yaban kedisi (Felis silvestris) · sv vildkatt (Felis silvestris) · ga fia-chat (Felis silvestris) · ja 山猫 (Felis silvestris) · qu oşgo (Felis silvestris) · hu vadmacska (Felis silvestris) · as হাপা (Felis silvestris) · ast gatu algaire (Felis silvestris) · hsb dźiwja kóčka (Felis silvestris) · se vildabussá (Felis silvestris) · de Wildkatze (Felis silvestris) · fi villikissa (person who acts like a wildcat) · hu vadmacska (person who acts like a wildcat) · cmn 山貓 /山猫 (Felis silvestris) · cmn 斑貓 /斑猫 (Felis silvestris) · apw gídí dziłkáʼyú gólííní (Felis silvestris) · it gatto selvatico (Felis silvestris)

wikipedia: John Audubon

wildcat en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈwaɪldˌkæt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈwaɪ.əlʔˌkæt] (General-American)
• /ˈwaɪ.əldˌkæt/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt. Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:oil industry) To drill for oil in an area where no oil has been found before.
   • You'd have to be very rich or very desperate to go wildcatting that far east.
   • His pitch was that fracking had transformed the production of gas from a hit-or-miss proposition to one that operated with an on and off switch. It was manufacturing, not wildcatting. 2018 August 30, Bethany McLean, “How America's ‘most reckless’ billionaire created the fracking boom”, in The Guardian:

Forms

Deriveds

wildcatter · wilkies

Relateds

black-footed cat (Eurasian wildcat) · sand cat (Eurasian wildcat) · Martelli's wildcat (Eurasian wildcat) · jungle cat (Eurasian wildcat) · bobcat and lynx (American wildcat)

wikipedia: John Audubon