wildcatter

noun

wild·cat·ter ˈwī(-ə)l(d)-ˌka-tər

: one that drills wells in the hope of finding oil in territory not known to be an oil field

: one that promotes unsafe and unreliable enterprises

especially : one that sells stocks in such enterprises

: one that designs, builds, or fires wildcat cartridges and firearms

: a worker who goes out on a wildcat strike

Did you know?

Messing with a wildcat, such as a lynx, can be a pretty risky undertaking, but ferocious felines played only an indirect role in the development of the word wildcatter. That term has been used in English since the late 19th century, along with the verb "wildcat," which refers to the risky practice of drilling experimental oil wells in territory not known to produce oil. English-speakers associated "wildcat" with risk-taking ventures after a number of U.S. banks fraudulently issued banknotes with little or no capital to back them up. Supposedly, the banknotes issued by one particular bank bore the image of a panther or, as it was known locally, a "wildcat," and it was those risky notes that led to the financial risk-taking senses of "wildcat" and "wildcatter."

Examples of wildcatter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Seeking Fortunes As wildcatters scoured Texas for oil in the 1920s, one hopeful investor christened their well in honor of Saint Rita of Cascia — the patron saint of impossible causes — asking for a miracle. —

Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 22 Feb. 2024 Many giant oil companies have tried and failed over the years to separate 86-year-old wildcatter Autry Stephens from control of his 340,00 acres of west Texas oilfields. —

Christopher Helman, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 The good fortune starts with Clark Hunt's grandfather, H.L. Hunt, a Texas oil wildcatter who was said to be the real-life inspiration for J.R. Ewing on the hit TV series Dallas. —

Justin Birnbaum, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 The wildcatter in Jerry still itches for the big play. —

Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 28 Apr. 2023 Shares of refiners, Texas wildcatters, oilfield services firms, rig owners, Appalachian gas producers, coal miners, crude shippers and pipeline operators all traded lower. —

Ryan Dezember, WSJ, 15 Mar. 2023 Energy stocks also lost 5.9% Wednesday, making the sector the S&P 500’s worst performer, with shares of international oil majors, refiners, Texas wildcatters, oil-field services firms, rig owners, Appalachian gas producers, coal miners, crude shippers and pipeline operators all sliding. —

David Uberti, WSJ, 15 Mar. 2023 His father was an oil wildcatter. —

Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 29 June 2021 Nice to see the days of wildcat, every-man-for-himself days of brutal ice infighting are over — unless there are cops at the border, wearing mirrored sunglasses, waiting for some non-dues-paying ice wildcatter to run a load of bootleg cubes over the border. —

Star Tribune, 9 July 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wildcatter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.