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wildcat

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: wildcat

1
 nadj
any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild
without official authorization
2
 nadj
an exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field
(of a mine or oil well) drilled speculatively in an area not known to be productive
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: wildcat
1

n any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild

Types:
show 18 types...
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sand cat
a desert wildcat
European wildcat, Felis silvestris, catamountain
bushy-tailed wildcat of Europe that resembles the domestic cat and is regarded as the ancestor of the domestic cat
Felis concolor, catamount, cougar, mountain lion, painter, panther, puma
large American feline resembling a lion
Felis pardalis, ocelot, panther cat
nocturnal wildcat of Central America and South America having a dark-spotted buff-brown coat
Felis yagouaroundi, eyra, jaguarondi, jaguarundi, jaguarundi cat
long-bodied long-tailed tropical American wildcat
Felis ocreata, caffer cat, kaffir cat
widely distributed wildcat of Africa and Asia Minor
Felis chaus, jungle cat
small Asiatic wildcat
Felis serval, serval
slender long-legged African wildcat having large untufted ears and tawny black-spotted coat
Felis bengalensis, leopard cat
small spotted wildcat of southern Asia and Malaysia
Felis tigrina, tiger cat
medium-sized wildcat of Central America and South America having a dark-striped coat
Felis wiedi, margay, margay cat
small spotted wildcat found from Texas to Brazil
Felis manul, Pallas's cat, manul
small wildcat of the mountains of Siberia and Tibet and Mongolia
catamount, lynx
short-tailed wildcats with usually tufted ears; valued for their fur
Lynx lynx, common lynx
of northern Eurasia
Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis
of northern North America
Lynx rufus, bay lynx, bobcat
small lynx of North America
Lynx pardina, spotted lynx
of southern Europe
Lynx caracal, caracal, desert lynx
of deserts of northern Africa and southern Asia
Type of:
cat, true cat
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats

n a cruelly rapacious person

Synonyms:
beast, brute, savage, wolf
Type of:
aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker
someone who attacks

adj without official authorization

“wildcat work stoppage”
Synonyms:
unauthorised, unauthorized
unofficial
not having official authority or sanction

adj 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”
Synonyms
unsound
not sound financially
2

n an exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field

Synonyms:
wildcat well
Type of:
oil well, oiler
a well that yields or has yielded oil

adj (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”
Synonyms
explorative, exploratory
serving in or intended for exploration or discovery
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