any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild
(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"
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"
(astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction
any celestial body (other than comets or satellites) that revolves around a star
the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century; "the Middle East is the cradle of Western civilization"
too small or unimportant to merit attention; "passed his life in an inconsiderable village"; "their duties were inconsiderable"; "had no inconsiderable influence"