wildcat
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwaɪldˌkæt/
ipa: /ˈwaɪ.əldˌkæt/
ipa: [ˈwaɪ.əlʔˌkæt]
Forms: form: wildcats
form: wild-cat
form: wild cat
Etymology: From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt.
Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.
Senses: glosses: A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically:
Felis silvestris, a common small Old World wild cat somewhat larger than a house cat.
glosses: A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically:
A bobcat (Lynx rufus) or other similar New World species of lynx.
glosses: A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically:
Any feral cat.
examples: 2003 April 24, CNN
Upon checking it out, we found a total of 13 newborn wildcats: nine newborn tigers and two newborn leopards.
glosses: A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically:
Alternative spelling of wild cat, any undomesticated felid, as tigers or lions.
examples: 2002 September 26, The Young and the Restless
Anyone who's man enough to have landed a wildcat like you had to be quite a guy.
glosses: A person who acts like a wildcat, (usually) a violent and easily-angered person or a sexually vigorous one.
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A wheel that can be adjusted so as to revolve either with or on the shaft of a capstan.
topics: engineering
firearms
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
tools
war
weaponry
glosses: Clipping of wildcat cartridge.
glosses: Clipping of wildcat strike (“a strike undertaken without authorization from the relevant trade union”).
glosses: Clipping of wildcat money (“notes issued by a wildcat bank”).
Synonyms: sense: Eurasian wildcats
word: desert cat
sense: American wildcats
word: bobcat
sense: wild house cats
word: feral cat
Hypernyms: sense: felines
word: cat
sense: felines
word: lynx
sense: felines
word: and wild cat
Hyponyms: sense: Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies
taxonomic: Felis silvestris silvestris
word: European wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies
alt: F. s. lybica
word: African wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies
alt: F. s. ornata
word: Asiatic wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies
alt: F. s. cafra
word: Southern African wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, proper subspecies
alt: F. s. bieti
word: Chinese mountain cat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Abyssinian wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Arabian wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Balearic wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: bay wildcats
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: bush wildcats
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Caucasian wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Corsica wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Cretan wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: East African wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: forest wildcats
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Hausa wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Iraqi wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Kalahari wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Mid-belt wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Mongolian wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Rhodesian wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Scottish wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: steppe wildcats
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Syrian wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Tristram's wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Turkestan wildcat
sense: Eurasian wildcats, informal types
word: Ugandan wildcat
Derived terms: Abyssinian wildcat
African wildcat
Arabian wildcat
Asian steppe wildcat
Asiatic wildcat
Balearic wildcat
bay wildcat
bush wildcat
Caucasian wildcat
Corsica wildcat
Cretan wildcat
East African wildcat
European wildcat
forest wildcat
Hausa wildcat
Highland wildcat
Iraqi wildcat
Kalahari wildcat
Martelli's wildcat
Mid-belt wildcat
Mongolian wildcat
Near Eastern wildcat
Rhodesian wildcat
Scottish wildcat
Southern African wildcat
Syrian wildcat
Tristram's wildcat
Turkestan wildcat
Ugandan wildcat
wildcat sandwich
wildcat well