Idiom:  Play cat and mouse

Cat playing with a toy mouse, illustrating the idiom "cat and mouse". Caption: My roommate and his girlfriend played cat and mouse for 2 years before they finally got engaged.

Meaning

Idiom:  (play) cat and mouse

  • A series of planned actions involving pursuit, captures and repeated escapes.

Example sentences

— The serial killer played cat and mouse with the police for ten years, leaving a trail of notes and clothing items from his victims and anonymous phone calls.

— A:  You're not answering his calls?  I thought you liked that guy.  B:  I do but he's playing cat and mouse with me so I'm doing the same.

— I feel like this candidate is playing cat and mouse with us.  Do you think she has another job offer or maybe she's interviewing with a lot of other companies?

— If you want to go into collections then you  better start getting used to playing cat and mouse with clients.

— We thought we had a buyer for our house but the real estate agent was just playing cat and mouse with us.

— Online dating is like a game of cat and mouse where you can't even be sure if the person you're exchanging messages with is real.

— My employer is playing cat and mouse with me.  I've done everything that they've asked to get a promotion and raise but they keep changing the parameters.

— Why are you playing cat and mouse with us?  We can tell you changed your grades on your report card and your teacher said you've missed five classes this month.


Synonyms

  • a con game
  • delay tactics
  • smoke screen


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