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Glite Dictionary
🐆 A wild feline 🛢️ Exploratory oil well ⚠️ Unauthorized action ✊ To strike illegally
to wildcat

to wildcat

8.1
To take part in a strike without union permission
  • verb
  • /ˈwaɪldˌkæt/
translation icon : hacer una huelga salvaje
  • If you wildcat, you risk disciplinary action because the strike is not officially approved.

Examples

  • Management was surprised when employees began wildcatting without any warning from the union.

  • The workers decided to wildcat after the management refused to negotiate.

  • The workers decided to wildcat after their demands for safer conditions were ignored.

  • Why did they choose to wildcat instead of following the proper procedures?

  • The workers decided to wildcat when their demands for better pay were ignored by management.

  • After weeks of negotiations, the employees chose to wildcat, walking off the job without union backing.

  • Frustrated with the lack of progress, the team made the bold move to wildcat and halted their work.

Compounds

wildcat strike
1 7.8

A strike by workers not approved by their union

European wildcat
  • UK
6.5

A wild cat that lives in European forests and has a bushy tail

wildcat well
  • Specialized
8.2

A well drilled to find oil in a new area

wildcat union
8.0

A group of workers who join together without official recognition

wildcat venture
9.2

A risky business project that is likely to fail but can give big profits

How Authorized

to comply
332 3.8
to work to rule
  • Literature
7.5
to strike
133 3.2
protest
578 2.5
to wildcat
8.1

Surface Forms

wildcat infinitive
wildcatted past
wildcatted past participle
wildcatting present participle
wildcats third person singular

Morphology

wildcat = wildcat (semi-transparent) = wild + cat

The verb is formed by conversion from the noun 'wildcat', but the meaning 'to strike without approval' relies on a specialized metaphorical extension.

Etymology

The verb wildcat comes from the same image of acting like a wild cat and means to stop work 'without official permission'. So to wildcat is to join an unauthorized strike or to refuse work without union approval.