wildcat
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
wildcat
- /ˈwaɪldˌkæt/ UK
- /ˈwaɪ.əldˌkæt/ US
- [ˈwaɪ.əlʔˌkæt] US
Where it comes from
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.
noun wildcats · wild-cat · wild cat
-
Felis silvestris, a common small Old World wild cat somewhat larger than a house cat.
Similar: feral cat
- A bobcat (Lynx rufus) or other similar New World species of lynx.
- Any feral cat.
- Alternative spelling of wild cat, any undomesticated felid, as tigers or lions. 2003 April 24, CNN Upon checking it out, we found a total of 13 newborn wildcats: nine newborn tigers and two newborn leopards.
-
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.
Similar: desert cat
- An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.
- A wheel that can be adjusted so as to revolve either with or on the shaft of a capstan.
- Clipping of wildcat cartridge
- Clipping of wildcat strike (“a strike undertaken without authorization from the relevant trade union”).
- Clipping of wildcat money (“notes issued by a wildcat bank”).
Similar: bobcat
adjective wild-cat · wild cat
- 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.
- Of or concerning irresponsible banks or banking, (particularly) small, independent operations.
- Of or concerning oil exploration in new areas, (particularly) small, independent operations.
- Of or concerning actions undertaken by workers without approval or in defiance of the formal leadership of their trade unions.
- Of or concerning customized or hand-made cartridges.
- 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.
verb wildcats · wildcatting · wildcatted · wild-cat · wild cat
- 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: wolf, beast, savage, brute, exploratory, explorative, unsound, unauthorized, unofficial, wildcat well, lynx, tiger, ocelot, viper, wildlife, wild-type
noun
Similar: bobcat
Translations
Every language
noun Felis silvestris
| Español | gato montés, gato salvaje |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | ヤマネコ yamaneko, 山猫 yamaneko |
| 中文 | 斑貓 /斑猫 bānmāo, 野貓 /野猫 yěmāo, 山貓 /山猫 shānmāo |
| Português | gato-bravo, gato-selvagem, gato-montês |
| Français | chat sauvage |
| Deutsch | Wildkatze |
| Italiano | gatto selvatico |
| Ελληνικά | αγριόγατα agriógata |
| Русский | лесна́я ко́шка lesnája kóška, лесно́й кот lesnój kot, ди́кая ко́шка díkaja kóška |
| العربية | ضَيْوَن ḍaywan |
noun person who acts like a wildcat
| Ελληνικά | αγριόγατα agriógata |
|---|
Talk about this word "wildcat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wildcat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wildcat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wildcat "wildcat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wildcat.Cite this
@misc{wildcat_2026,
title = {wildcat},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wildcat},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
