The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wild-cat \Wild"-cat`\, a.
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.
(Railroad) Running without control; running along the line without a train; as, a wild-cat locomotive.
Usage examples of "wild-cat".
Having seen the ores and assays, we are satisfied that the mines of the District are very valuable--anything but wild-cat.
To be short, this is it: when thou hast got a stroke in upon him, and he falters, then give him no time, but fly at him in thy wild-cat manner and show what-like thews thou hast under thy smooth skin.
The female, when her risibility is once aroused, can laugh down the hyena or the jackal or the wild-cat.
Went wild-catting with a bunch of hoodlums up in the Little Smoky country.
He grew up in the Bronx and after the war tried his hand at pig-farming, oil wild-catting, selling used cars, selling women’s dresses, and working as a stockbroker.