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play cat and mouse
play (a game of) cat and mouse
1. to repeatedly try to make someone react in a way that will cause them problems Enemy warplanes have been playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, trying to bring American fighter planes into range of their missiles.
2. to try to find someone who is hiding from you Border agents played cat and mouse with people trying to enter the country illegally.
Etymology: based on the way a cat plays with a mouse before killing it
play cat and mouse
to try to defeat someone by tricking them into making a mistake so that you have an advantage over them (often + with ) The 32-year-old actress spent a large proportion of the week playing cat and mouse with the press.
play cat and mouse
Amuse oneself or trifle with, toy with, as in She loved to play cat and mouse with an admirer, acting by turns friendly, indifferent, and jealous . The analogy of a cat toying with a helpless mouse was drawn centuries earlier, but the precise term dates only from the early 1900s.