wildcat

adjective

  1. 1

    (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

  2. 2

    without official authorization

    an unauthorized strike

    wildcat work stoppage

  3. 3

    outside the bounds of legitimate or ethical business practices

    wildcat currency issued by irresponsible banks

    wildcat stock speculation

noun

  1. 1

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

  2. 2

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

  3. 3

    a cruelly rapacious person

Synonyms

Also useful for “wildcat”:Unscrambler