cat and mouse
noun
: behavior like that of a cat with a mouse: such as
a
: the act of toying with or tormenting something before destroying it
b
: a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes
played a game of cat and mouse with the police
broadly
: an evasive action
Examples of cat and mouse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
It's paced to perfection, with the final face-off between the two Terminators becoming a game of cat and mouse that echoes the ending of the original (albeit a lot hotter).
—
Ian Stokes, Space.com, 26 Nov. 2025
The game of cat and mouse extends off the island.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
The Beast in Me Netflix, November 13 Literary bona fides: concerning novelist problems
From our fall preview: Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys seem just about perfectly cast in this cat and mouse thriller, all eight episodes of which will be dumped in our laps for bingeing pleasure in November.
—Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2025
Soon, a crisis forces Tori into a deadly cat and mouse game where her despair gives way to defiance as guns are pointed and hands are bloodied.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cat and mouse
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Ian Stokes, Space.com, 26 Nov. 2025
The game of cat and mouse extends off the island.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
The Beast in Me Netflix, November 13 Literary bona fides: concerning novelist problems
From our fall preview: Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys seem just about perfectly cast in this cat and mouse thriller, all eight episodes of which will be dumped in our laps for bingeing pleasure in November.
—Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2025
Soon, a crisis forces Tori into a deadly cat and mouse game where her despair gives way to defiance as guns are pointed and hands are bloodied.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cat and mouse
Cite this Entry
“Cat and mouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cat%20and%20mouse. Accessed 30 Dec. 2025.
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