Phrase guide

wildcat strike

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈwaɪ.əldˌkæt ˈstɹaɪk/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈwaɪldˌkæt ˈstɹaɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A labor strike that has not been authorized by the leaders of a trade union.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: organized labor

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wildcat

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a strike undertaken by workers without approval from the officials of their union

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: strike, work stoppage

History

Etymology

From wildcat (“illegal, risky”) + strike.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: vaga salvatge — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Chinese Mandarin: 野貓罷工 /野猫罢工 (yěmāobàgōng) — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Dutch: wilde staking — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Estonian: sanktsioneerimata streik — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Finnish: korpilakko — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • French: grève sauvage — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • German: wilder Streik — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Irish: tobstailc neamhoifigiúil — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Italian: sciopero selvaggio — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Korean: 살쾡이파업 (salkwaeng'ipa'eop) — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Malay: mogok liar — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Norwegian Bokmål: vill streik — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Polish: strajk dziki — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Portuguese: greve selvagem — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Russian: стихи́йная забасто́вка (stixíjnaja zabastóvka) — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Russian: спонта́нная забасто́вка (spontánnaja zabastóvka) — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Spanish: huelga salvaje — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Swedish: vild strejk — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Vietnamese: đình công tự phát — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union
  • Welsh: streic wyllt — labour strike not authorized by the leaders of a trade union