English-Spanish translations for cat and mouse

• juego del gato y el ratón
  Tienen reminiscencias del juego del gato y el ratón. These are reminiscent of a game of cat and mouse.
  A veces es difícil distinguir, en este juego del gato y el ratón, quién es el gato y quién es el ratón. At times it is very hard to see in this game of cat and mouse just who is the cat and who is the mouse.
  ¿Podemos esperar a que se ponga fin a este juego del gato y el ratón que tiene lugar entre los países que participan en la Cumbre de Copenhague? Can we expect this game of cat and mouse that is currently going on between the countries involved in the Copenhagen Summit to stop?

Definition of cat and mouse

• A relationship in which two parties closely monitor and challenge one another in a suspicious or self-protective manner, often because each party is attempting to gain an advantage over the other
• A form of attack in which the attacker toys with the victim by inflicting minor damage or letting the victim have futile hopes of escape before finally finishing the victim off
• A children's game in which one player attempts to break through a ring of players to catch another player in the centre

Examples

• The Allied and the enemy submarine played a game of cat and mouse, checking up on each others whereabouts and strategies.
• The hackers played a cat and mouse game with the system administrators: the hackers kept trying new tricks, and the system administrators kept mounting electronic defenses.

Related words

• play cat and mouse
• Andean mountain cat
• Landmoth cum Catto