Search Result for "wildcat": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (3)

1. an exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field;
[syn: wildcat well, wildcat]

2. a cruelly rapacious person;
[syn: beast, wolf, savage, brute, wildcat]

3. any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild;


ADJECTIVE (3)

1. outside the bounds of legitimate or ethical business practices;
- Example: "wildcat currency issued by irresponsible banks"
- Example: "wildcat stock speculation"
- Example: "a wildcat airline"
- Example: "wildcat life insurance schemes"

2. without official authorization;
- Example: "an unauthorized strike"
- Example: "wildcat work stoppage"
[syn: unauthorized, unauthorised, wildcat]

3. (of a mine or oil well) drilled speculatively in an area not known to be productive;
- Example: "drilling there would be strictly a wildcat operation"
- Example: "a wildcat mine"
- Example: "wildcat drilling"
- Example: "wildcat wells"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Wild-cat \Wild"-cat`\, a. 1. Unsound; worthless; irresponsible; unsafe; -- said to have been originally applied to the notes of an insolvent bank in Michigan upon which there was the figure of a panther. [1913 Webster] 2. (Railroad) Running without control; running along the line without a train; as, a wild-cat locomotive. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

wildcat adj 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; "an unauthorized strike"; "wildcat work stoppage" [syn: unauthorized, unauthorised, wildcat] 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" n 1: an exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field [syn: wildcat well, wildcat] 2: a cruelly rapacious person [syn: beast, wolf, savage, brute, wildcat] 3: any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild