cat and mouse

American  

[kat uhn mous] / ˈkæt ən ˈmaʊs /

noun

1. Also called cat and rat.  a children's game in which players in a circle keep a player from moving into or out of the circle and permit a second player to move into or out of the circle to escape the pursuing first player.

2. Western U.S. tick-tack-toe.

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idioms

1. play cat and mouse with,

   1. to toy or trifle with.

   2. to use strategy on one's opponent, especially while waiting to strike.

      The detective played cat and mouse with the suspect.

2. play cat and mouse, to engage in a gamelike relationship in which evasion and pursuit are used.

   They played cat and mouse for a while before she consented to go out with him.

Etymology

Origin of cat and mouse

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cat and mouse

The party’s attempts to plug such leaks have become a game of cat and mouse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

This is a cat and mouse — or cats and mice — melodrama, with customized stock characters given dark secrets and backstory traumas less as explanation than complication.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

But it wasn't live, the police could prove it and from this moment the online content creator's high-stakes game of cat and mouse was up.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

It then turns into a game of cat and mouse.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 14, 2026

For the Coast Guard, the Rum War was less a game of cat and mouse and more a case of a needle in a haystack.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield