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{{Wiktionary}}
{{other uses}}
'''Cat and mouse''', often expressed as '''cat-and-mouse game''', is an English-language [[idiom]] that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes."<ref name="mw">{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cat%20and%20mouse |title=cat and mouse |accessdate=2008-07-23 |work=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]}}</ref> The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mouse", who, despite not being able to defeat the cat, is able to avoid capture. In extreme cases, the idiom may imply that the contest is never-ending. The term is derived from the hunting behavior of [[Cat|domestic cats]], which often appear to "play" with prey by releasing it after capture. This behavior may arise from an instinctive imperative to ensure that the prey is weak enough to be killed without endangering the cat.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Why do cats play with their food? |url= http://azdailysun.com/lifestyles/pets/article_46a97775-232d-5e56-b0ea-dd1c8782b062.html |work=Arizona Daily Sun |access-date=15 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110319041928/http://www.azdailysun.com/lifestyles/pets/article_46a97775-232d-5e56-b0ea-dd1c8782b062.html |archive-date=19 March 2011}}</ref>
In colloquial usage, it has often been generalized to mean the advantage constantly shifts between the contestants, leading to an [[impasse]] or ''[[de facto]]'' stalemate.{{Citation needed|date = October 2016}} In classical [[game theory]], cat and mouse classifies as a "[[copycat game|copycat]]" archetype whereby there exists no [[social equilibrium|equilibrium]], and most importantly, no [[wikt:endgame|endgame]], its two protagonists, [[Dot and Ditto]], running amok in their [[Normal-form game|game space]] to infinity, with no endpoint to their game anywhere in sight attributable to a defective reward system; conflicting incentives. Theoretical [[Moral|active reading]] on "cat and mouse," or "Dot and Ditto" is ominous in its implication; multiple protagonists, each armed a [[passive strategy]], can remain theoretically locked in total perpetual war indefinitely, wholly unable to rise to a plateau sufficient to intellectualize their plight.{{Citation needed|date = October 2016}}
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