See Also: wolf(medicine)
wolf(1)(dictionary)
wolf(2)(dictionary)
sea wolf(medicine)
Wolf, A(medicine)
wolf(encyclopedia)
dire wolf(encyclopedia)
Tasmanian wolf(encyclopedia)
wolf (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
wolf spider(encyclopedia)

wolf(1) (iou)



wolf noun. .
[Old English wulf corresp. to Old Frisian wolf, Old Saxon wulf (Dutch wolf), Old High German wolf (German Wolf), Old Norse ulfr, Gothic wulfs, from Germanic, from Indo-European base repr. also by Latin lupus, Greek lukos, Sanskrit vka.]
A large doglike mammal, Canis lupus, which is native to Europe, Asia, and N. America, esp. the tundra and taiga, lives in packs, and is noted for its supposed ferocity and rapacity (also grey wolf, timber wolf). Also, any of several other American canids. OE.
b. fig. Anything compared to a wolf in respect of the animal's ferocity or rapacity. OE.
Byron The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. Guardian The media finger the suspects like wolves watching the stragglers in the herd of deer.
c. (Usu. with specifying word.) Any of various other carnivorous mammals that resemble the wolf, as a hyena, a thylacine. E19.
d. The skin, hide, or fur of the wolf. E19.
A person or being (orig. esp. the Devil) of a cruel, ferocious, or rapacious disposition; an enemy or persecutor of the Christian flock (with ref. to Matthew 7:15, Acts 20:29, etc.). OE.
P. Sidney Such a slye wolfe was entred among them, that could make justice the cloake of tirannye.
b. A person who deserves to be hunted down like a wolf. Cf. wolf's-head below. M16-M17.
c. A man with a voracious sexual appetite; a man who habitually pursues and seduces women. slang. M19.
S. J. Perelman This guy..is a..wolf who is constantly slavering after secretaries.
d. A male homosexual seducer; a male homosexual who adopts an active role with a partner. slang (orig. US). E20.
fig. A wolf as a type of a destructive or devouring agency, esp. hunger or famine. Chiefly in keep the wolf from the door below. LME.
b. A ravenous appetite; an insatiable craving for food. L16.
Any of various kinds of apparatus; spec. (a) a military engine with sharp teeth for grasping battering rams used by besiegers; (b) a kind of fishing net (also wolf-net). L15.
a. An image or representation of a wolf. M16.
b. (Wolf.) Astronomy. The constellation Lupus. M16.
Any of various other animals likened to a wolf in some way; esp. a voracious fish, as a wolf-fish, a pike. M16.
Medicine. Any of various malignant and erosive diseases; esp. lupus. M16-E19.
Music.
a. An out-of-tune effect giving a harsh sound when chords in certain extreme keys are played on old keyboard instruments, esp. the organ, before the introduction of tuning by equal temperament; a chord or interval characterized by such a sound. L18.
b. A jarring sound which sometimes occurs from a bowed stringed instrument when the instrument's body resonates to a certain note. Also wolf-note. L19.
In full wolf tree. A tree occupying more space than has been allowed for it, so restricting the growth of its neighbours. E20.
Phrases etc.: AARDWOLF. cry wolf (too often) (with ref. to the fable of the shepherd boy who tricked people with false cries of 'Wolf!') raise repeated false alarms (so that a genuine cry for help goes unheeded). have a wolf by the ears, hold a wolf by the ears be in a precarious situation; be in a predicament where any course of action presents problems. keep the wolf from the door avert or stave off hunger, starvation, or poverty. loafer wolf: see LOAFER 2. lone wolf: see LONE adjective & adverb. MANED wolf. PRAIRIE-wolf. red wolf: see RED adjective. see a wolf arch. be lost for words (from the old belief that on seeing a wolf a person lost his or her voice). Tasmanian wolf: see TASMANIAN adjective. throw to the wolves sacrifice (a subordinate, friend, etc.) in order to avert danger or difficulties for oneself. tiger-wolf: see TIGER noun. wake a sleeping wolf (rare, Shakes.) invite trouble or disturbance. water-wolf: see WATER noun. wolf in sheep's clothing (with ref. to Matthew 7:15) a person whose hostile or malicious intentions are concealed by a pretence of gentleness or friendliness.
Attrib. & comb.: In the senses 'made of the hide or fur of a wolf', as wolf coat, wolf hat, wolf jacket, etc., 'of or pertaining to the (esp. spiritual) association of human beings with wolves', as wolf clan, wolf people, wolf totem, etc. Special combs., as wolfberry a N. American shrub, Symphoricarpos occidentalis, allied to the snowberry; wolf call colloq. (orig. US) a wolf-whistle; wolf-cry a false alarm; wolf cub (a) a young wolf; (b) (former name for) a Cub Scout; wolf-dog (a) = wolfhound below; (b) a hybrid between a domestic dog and a wolf; wolf-fish any of various large deep-water marine fishes of the family Anarhichadidae, which have long bodies and large doglike teeth (also called sea-cat, sea-catfish, sea-wolf); esp. Anarhichas lupus, of the N. Atlantic; wolf fly = ROBBER-fly; wolf-head (a) the head of a wolf; an image or representation of this; (b) Law (now Hist.) in Anglo-Saxon England, a cry for the pursuit of an outlaw as one to be hunted down like a wolf; transf. (orig. in cry wolf's head) an outlaw; wolfhound (an animal of) any of several large breeds of dog formerly kept for hunting wolves; wolf-madness = LYCANTHROPY 1; wolf-moth the corn moth, Nemapogon granella, whose larvae infest stored grain; wolf-net = sense 4(b) above; wolf-note = sense 8b above; wolf-pack (a) a number of wolves naturally associating as a group, esp. for hunting; (b) any group of people or things which operate as a hunting and attacking pack, as a group of submarines, aircraft, etc.; spec. (US) an urban gang of criminal youths; wolfsbane an aconite, esp. (a) monkshood, Aconitum napellus; (b) Aconitum vulparia, which has dull yellow flowers and occurs in mountainous regions of Europe; wolf's claw the common clubmoss, Lycopodium clavatum; wolf's head = wolf-head above; wolfskin the skin or pelt of a wolf; a garment etc. made of this; wolf's milk [with ref. to the acrid milky juice] any of several spurges, esp. sun spurge, Euphorbia helioscopia, and leafy spurge, E. esula; wolf-snake any of various harmless Asian colubrid snakes of the genus Lycodon; esp. L. aulicus, which has variable markings and is common in the Indian subcontinent; wolf-spider any of various spiders of the family Lycosidae, which run after and spring on their prey; wolf's tooth a rudimentary tooth in a horse, which grows out sideways from the jaw and can cut the cheek; wolf tree: see sense 9 above; wolf-whistle noun & verb (a) noun a whistle, esp. one by a man, expressing sexual admiration or attraction; (b) verb intrans. make a wolf-whistle; wolf willow Canad. the silverberry, Elaeagnus commutata.
wolfess noun (rare) (a) a female wolf; (b) a woman who habitually pursues and seduces men: LME.
wolfkin noun (rare) a young wolf E18.
wolflike adjective like (that of) a wolf; ferocious, ravening, rapacious: L16.
wolfling noun a young or little wolf ME.