wildcat
Americannoun
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wildcats,
plural
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wildcat
plural
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any of several North American felines of the genus Lynx.
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a yellowish-gray, black-striped feline, Felis sylvestris, of Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa, resembling and closely related to the domestic cat, with which it interbreeds freely.
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a closely related feline, Felis sylvestris libyca, of northern Africa, believed to be the ancestor of the domestic cat.
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any of several other of the smaller felines, as the serval or ocelot.
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a domestic cat that has become feral.
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a quick-tempered or savage person.
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Railroads. a single locomotive operating without a train, as one switching cars.
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an exploratory well drilled in an effort to discover deposits of oil or gas; a prospect well.
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a reckless or unsound enterprise, business, etc.
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Informal. wildcatter.
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Nautical. a shaped drum on a windlass, engaging with the links of an anchor chain.
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Informal. wildcat strike.
adjective
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characterized by or proceeding from reckless or unsafe business methods.
wildcat companies; wildcat stocks.
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of or relating to an illicit enterprise or product.
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running without control or regulation, as a locomotive, or apart from the regular schedule, as a train.
verb (used without object)
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wildcats,
present (3rd person singular)
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wildcatted,
past participle, past
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wildcatting
present participle
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to search an area of unknown or doubtful productivity for oil, ore, or the like, especially as an independent prospector.
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Slang. to engage in a wildcat strike.
verb (used with object)
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wildcats,
present (3rd person singular)
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wildcatted,
past participle, past
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wildcatting
present participle
noun
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a wild European cat, Felis silvestris, that resembles the domestic tabby but is larger and has a bushy tail
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any of various other felines, esp of the genus Lynx, such as the lynx and the caracal
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another name for bobcat
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informal a savage or aggressive person
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an exploratory drilling for petroleum or natural gas
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an unsound commercial enterprise
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): light engine. a railway locomotive in motion without drawing any carriages or wagons
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(modifier)
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of or relating to an unsound business enterprise
wildcat stock
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financially or commercially unsound
a wildcat project
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(modifier) (of a train) running without permission or outside the timetable
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wildcatsimple
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wildcatssimple
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have wildcattedperfect
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has wildcattedperfect
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am wildcattingprogressive
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are wildcattingprogressive
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is wildcattingprogressive
-
have been wildcattingperfect progressive
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has been wildcattingperfect progressive
Past
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wildcattedsimple
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had wildcattedperfect
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was wildcattingprogressive
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were wildcattingprogressive
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had been wildcattingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wildcat
1375–1425; late Middle English wilde cat; compare Middle Low German wildkatte
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Nineteenth-century wildcat notes circulated in an era when collateral requirements, where they existed at all, were routinely evaded and unenforceable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Chief Bepdjo is also dealing with divisions among his own people, some of whom -- including his predecessor -- support wildcat mining.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
There are various types of flips that have unique names that don't spell out exactly what the trick contains - including wildcat, tamedog, backflip, frontflip, rodeo, backside rodeo and corked spin.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
To better understand how evolution shaped these sounds, the researchers compared domestic cat meows with those of five wild cat species: African wildcat, European wildcat, jungle cat, cheetah, and cougar.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 2026
Lyra had fallen to one side, with Pantalaimon a wildcat now, fur raised, teeth bared, beside her.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
It can also help them understand the habitat the wildcats are using.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Those wildcats have successfully reproduced and the team working on the project are aware of at least 20 wild-born litters to released females since 2024.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Employees routinely took newborn kangaroos, wildcats and goats home overnight to provide round-the-clock feeding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
The Iberian lynx is one of the world's rarest wildcats and was on the brink of extinction in the early 2000s, with fewer than 100 individuals remaining.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
Clad in armor, he leaned casually on an impressive sword, while behind him foxes, wildcats and vermin fled in terror.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Besides practicing law, he wildcatted for oil with moderate success.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meanwhile, he struck oil, wildcatted himself into more millions than he could count.
From Time Magazine Archive
On the other is Marvin Davis, 59, son of a New York dress manufacturer who wildcatted an oil fortune in the Rocky Mountains.
From Time Magazine Archive
Benedum discovered the famous De Mares Pool in Colombia on which International Petroleum fattened and wildcatted in Rumania's Ploesti field at Queen Marie's personal invitation.
From Time Magazine Archive
With dollars accumulated from purchase and sale of oil leases during boom years around 1906, he "wildcatted."
From Time Magazine Archive
Most of the publicly available geothermal data was collected when oil-and-gas companies were wildcatting across the West between 1960 and 1980.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
Upon arrival he launched a tuna fish cannery, sold canned produce, opened a chain of laundries in the Coalinga area, and even spent some time wildcatting for oil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2024
Go far enough back in baseball’s history – into the game’s actual disreputable, exploitive, wildcatting past, not the shelf-stable official one – and the same story repeats itself one generation after another.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 23, 2017
It’s fun to think of it as of a panoramic velvet painting: The Western landscape of Bonanza and Giant and wildcatting George H.W.
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2012
Now the mass in number-three rocket is building and wildcatting itself.
From Stand by for Mars! by Louis Glanzman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
