Wildcat

Etymology
From, (in the plural as , , ), equivalent to.

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.

Noun

 * 1) A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically
 * 2)  Felis silvestris, a common small Old World wild cat somewhat larger than a house cat.
 * 3)  A bobcat (Lynx rufus) or other similar New World species of lynx.
 * 4) Any feral cat.
 * , any undomesticated felid, as tigers or lions.
 * 1) * 2003 April 24, CNN
 * Upon checking it out, we found a total of 13 newborn wildcats: nine newborn tigers and two newborn leopards.
 * 1)  A person who acts like a wildcat,  a violent and easily-angered person or a sexually vigorous one.
 * 2) * 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.
 * 1)  An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.
 * 2)  A wheel that can be adjusted so as to revolve either with or on the shaft of a capstan.
 * , a strike undertaken without authorization from the relevant trade union.
 * , notes issued by a wildcat bank.
 * , notes issued by a wildcat bank.

Synonyms

 * See bobcat
 * See feral cat
 * See feral cat

Hypernyms

 * See cat, lynx, and wild cat

Hyponyms

 * European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), African wildcat (F. s. lybica), Asiatic wildcat, , Chinese mountain cat
 * ,, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Scottish wildcat, , , , ,

Translations

 * Afrikaans: wildekat
 * Apache:
 * Western Apache: gídí dziłkáʼyú gólííní
 * Assamese: হেপা, হাপা
 * Basque: basakatu
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:, , , , ,
 * Czech: kočka divoká
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * Galician: ,
 * German:
 * Greek:
 * Hungarian:
 * Irish: fia-chat
 * Italian: gatto selvatico
 * Japanese: ヤマネコ,


 * Northern Sami: vildabussá, meahccebussá
 * Norwegian: villkatt
 * Persian: گربه‌ی وحشی, گربه بیابانی
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:, gato-selvagem,
 * Quechua: osgo, oşgo
 * Russian: лесна́я ко́шка, лесно́й кот, ди́кая ко́шка
 * Scottish Gaelic: cat-fiadhaich
 * Sogdian: ܡܫܟܥܢܤܗ, ܡܘܫܟܝܫܤ
 * Sorbian:
 * Lower Sorbian: źiwa kocka
 * Upper Sorbian: dźiwja kóčka
 * Spanish:, gato salvaje
 * Swedish:
 * Welsh: cath wyllt


 * Finnish:
 * Greek:


 * Hungarian: ,


 * Albanian:
 * Basque:
 * Belarusian:
 * Breton:
 * Bulgarian:
 * Catalan:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Esperanto:
 * Estonian:
 * Faroese:
 * French:
 * Friulian:
 * Galician: ,
 * Hopi:
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: ,
 * Indonesian:
 * Italian:
 * Korean:
 * Ladin:
 * Latvian:
 * Lithuanian:


 * Macedonian:
 * Maltese:
 * Manx: ,
 * Maricopa:
 * Norwegian: ,
 * O'odham:
 * Occitan:
 * Romani: ,
 * Romanian:
 * Romansch:
 * Sardinian:, ,
 * Serbo-Croatian: ,
 * Slovak:
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish: ,
 * Swedish:
 * Turkish:
 * Ukrainian:
 * Volapük:,  ,
 * West Frisian:
 * Wolof:

Adjective

 * 1)  Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially:
 * 2)  Of or concerning irresponsible banks or banking,  small, independent operations.
 * 3) Of or concerning oil exploration in new areas,  small, independent operations.
 * 4) Of or concerning actions undertaken by workers without approval or in defiance of the formal leadership of their trade unions.
 * 5)  Of or concerning customized or hand-made cartridges.
 * 6) Unauthorized by the proper authorities.
 * 7) * 2003 June 15, CNN
 * Jewish settlers have also been active putting up five new wildcat outposts on hilltops in the West Bank to try to thwart their Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
 * Jewish settlers have also been active putting up five new wildcat outposts on hilltops in the West Bank to try to thwart their Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Derived terms

 * ,, wildcat note, wildcat money, wildcat currency

Translations

 * Finnish: ,

Verb

 * 1) To drill for oil in an area where no oil has been found before.
 * You'd have to be very rich or very desperate to go wildcatting that far east.