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.

---

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

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

Will you feel worse if you ask and he gives you a game of cat and mouse?

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 20, 2026

"It is a cat and mouse game," he said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026

The Bafta nominee's latest film Apex will see him star opposite Hollywood actress Charlize Theron in a ruthless game of cat and mouse.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 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