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Noun: wildcat  'wI(-u)ld,kat
  1. Any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild
     
  2. An exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field
    - wildcat well
     
  3. [informal] A cruelly rapacious person
    - beast, wolf, savage, brute
Adjective: wildcat  'wI(-u)ld,kat
  1. Outside the bounds of legitimate or ethical business practices
    "wildcat currency issued by irresponsible banks"; "wildcat stock speculation"; "a wildcat airline"; "wildcat life insurance schemes"
     
  2. Without official authorization
    "wildcat work stoppage";
    - unauthorized, unauthorised [Brit]
     
  3. (of a mine or oil well) drilled speculatively in an area not known to be productive
    "drilling there would be strictly a wildcat operation"; "a wildcat mine"; "wildcat drilling"; "wildcat wells"
Verb: wildcat (wildcatted,wildcatting)  'wI(-u)ld,kat
Usage: US
  1. Prospect for oil in an area where no oil has been found before

Derived forms: wildcatting, wildcatted, wildcats

See also: explorative, exploratory, unofficial, unsound

Type of: aggressor, assailant, assailer, assaulter, attacker, cat, oil well, oiler, true cat

Part of: Felis, genus Felis

Encyclopedia: Wildcat, Clay County, Kentucky