Adjacent Words

Wolf definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WOLF, n. WULF. [G., Gr.]
1. An animal of the genus Canis, a beast of prey that kills sheep and other small domestic animals; called sometimes the wild dog. The wolf is crafty, greedy and ravenous.
2. A small white worm or maggot, which infests granaries.
3. An eating ulcer.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs
2: Austrian composer (1860-1903) [syn: Wolf, Hugo Wolf]
3: German classical scholar who claimed that the Iliad and Odyssey were composed by several authors (1759-1824) [syn: Wolf, Friedrich August Wolf]
4: a man who is aggressive in making amorous advances to women [syn: wolf, woman chaser, skirt chaser, masher]
5: a cruelly rapacious person [syn: beast, wolf, savage, brute, wildcat] v
1: eat hastily; "The teenager wolfed down the pizza" [syn: wolf, wolf down]

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Friedrich August 1759-1824 German philologist II. biographical name Hugo Philipp Jakob 1860-1903 Austrian composer

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural wolves) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wulf; akin to Old High German wolf wolf, Latin lupus, Greek lykos Date: before 12th century 1. plural also wolf a. any of several large predatory canids (genus Canis) that live and hunt in packs and resemble the related dogs; especially gray wolf — compare coyote, jackal b. the fur of a wolf 2. a. (1) a fierce, rapacious, or destructive person (2) a man forward, direct, and zealous in amatory attentions to women b. dire poverty ; starvation <keep the wolf from the door> c. the maggot of a warble fly 3. [German; from the howling sound] a. (1) dissonance in some chords on organs, pianos, or other instruments with fixed tones tuned by unequal temperament (2) an instance of such dissonance b. a harshness due to faulty vibration in various tones in a bowed instrument • wolflike adjective II. transitive verb Date: 1862 to eat greedily ; devour

Britannica Concise

German novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. Wolf was reared in a middle-class, pro-Nazi family; after Germany's defeat in 1945, she moved with her family to E. Germany. Her work reflects her experiences during World War II and her postwar life in a communist state. Her novels include Divided Heaven (1963), which brought her political favor; The Quest for Christa T. (1968), severely attacked in E. Germany; A Model Childhood (1976); Cassandra (1983), her most widely read book, linking nuclear and patriarchal power; and What Remains (1990), on government surveillance and her own links to the E. German Stasi..Austrian composer. He entered the Vienna Conservatory at 15, but, as a rabid Wagnerian, he lost patience with his teachers' conservatism and soon left. By 18 he probably already had the syphilis that would kill him, making him mentally unstable, and his volatile personality made it difficult to keep private students. As a critic (1884-87), he attracted attention for his vituperative comments. His productivity came in bursts; in 1888-89 he produced the remarkable songs of the Mö rike Lieder, the Eichendorff Lieder, the Goethe Lieder, and much of the Spanish Songbook--more than half his total output. After beginning the Italian Songbook in 1891, he wrote nothing for three years, then quickly composed the opera Der Corregidor (1896) and finished the Italian Songbook (1896). In 1897 he suffered a complete breakdown, and he thereafter lived largely in an asylum.

Britannica Concise

Either of two extant species of wild dog. The gray, or timber, wolf (Canis lupus) is probably the ancestor of all domestic dogs. It once had the largest distribution of any mammal except human beings, but is now found primarily in Canada, Alaska, the Balkans, and Russia. Wolves are intelligent and social. Their primary prey are deer, moose, and caribou, though they feed on many smaller animals as well. Because wolves have killed livestock as well, they have been persecuted by farmers and ranchers. A male gray wolf may be 7 ft (2 m) long and weigh up to 175 lbs (80 kg); it is the largest living wild canid. Gray wolves live in hierarchical packs whose territories cover at least 38 sq mi (100 sq km) and hunt mostly at night. The much smaller red wolf (C. rufus), once widespread in the S central U.S., is now extinct in the wild and is being bred in captivity. See also dire wolf.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (pl. wolves) 1 a wild flesh-eating tawny-grey mammal related to the dog, esp. Canis lupus, preying on sheep etc. and hunting in packs. 2 sl. a man given to seducing women. 3 a rapacious or greedy person. 4 Mus. a a jarring sound from some notes in a bowed instrument. b an out-of-tune effect when playing certain chords on old organs (before the present 'equal temperament' was in use). --v.tr. (often foll. by down) devour (food) greedily. Phrases and idioms: cry wolf raise repeated false alarms (so that a genuine one is disregarded). have (or hold) a wolf by the ears be in a precarious position. keep the wolf from the door avert hunger or starvation. lone wolf a person who prefers to act alone. throw to the wolves sacrifice without compunction. wolf-cub 1 a young wolf. 2 Brit. the former name for a Cub Scout. wolf-fish any large voracious blenny of the genus Anarrhichas. wolf in sheep's clothing a hostile person who pretends friendship. wolf-pack an attacking group of submarines or aircraft. wolf's-milk spurge. wolf-spider any ground-dwelling spider of the family Lycosidae, hunting instead of trapping its prey. wolf-whistle n. a sexually admiring whistle by a man to a woman. --v.intr. make a wolf-whistle. Derivatives: wolfish adj. wolfishly adv. wolflike adj. & adv. Etymology: OE wulf f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wolf Wolf, n.; pl. Wolves. [OE. wolf, wulf, AS. wulf; akin to OS. wulf, D. & G. wolf, Icel. [=u]lfr, Sw. ulf, Dan. ulv, Goth. wulfs, Lith. vilkas, Russ. volk', L. lupus, Gr. ly`kos, Skr. v[.r]ka; also to Gr. "e`lkein to draw, drag, tear in pieces. [root]286. Cf. Lupine, a., Lyceum.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of wild and savage carnivores belonging to the genus Canis and closely allied to the common dog. The best-known and most destructive species are the European wolf (Canis lupus), the American gray, or timber, wolf (C. occidentalis), and the prairie wolf, or coyote. Wolves often hunt in packs, and may thus attack large animals and even man. 2. (Zo["o]l.) One of the destructive, and usually hairy, larv[ae] of several species of beetles and grain moths; as, the bee wolf. 3. Fig.: Any very ravenous, rapacious, or destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation; as, they toiled hard to keep the wolf from the door. 4. A white worm, or maggot, which infests granaries. 5. An eating ulcer or sore. Cf. Lupus. [Obs.] If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf into thy side. --Jer. Taylor. 6. (Mus.) (a) The harsh, howling sound of some of the chords on an organ or piano tuned by unequal temperament. (b) In bowed instruments, a harshness due to defective vibration in certain notes of the scale. 7. (Textile Manuf.) A willying machine. --Knight. Black wolf. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A black variety of the European wolf which is common in the Pyrenees. (b) A black variety of the American gray wolf. Golden wolf (Zo["o]l.), the Thibetan wolf (Canis laniger); -- called also chanco. Indian wolf (Zo["o]l.), an Asiatic wolf (Canis pallipes) which somewhat resembles a jackal. Called also landgak. Prairie wolf (Zo["o]l.), the coyote. Sea wolf. (Zo["o]l.) See in the Vocabulary. Strand wolf (Zo["o]l.) the striped hyena. Tasmanian wolf (Zo["o]l.), the zebra wolf. Tiger wolf (Zo["o]l.), the spotted hyena. To keep the wolf from the door, to keep away poverty; to prevent starvation. See Wolf, 3, above. --Tennyson. Wolf dog. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The mastiff, or shepherd dog, of the Pyrenees, supposed by some authors to be one of the ancestors of the St. Bernard dog. (b) The Irish greyhound, supposed to have been used formerly by the Danes for chasing wolves. (c) A dog bred between a dog and a wolf, as the Eskimo dog. Wolf eel (Zo["o]l.), a wolf fish. Wolf fish (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of large, voracious marine fishes of the genus Anarrhichas, especially the common species (A. lupus) of Europe and North America. These fishes have large teeth and powerful jaws. Called also catfish, sea cat, sea wolf, stone biter, and swinefish. Wolf net, a kind of net used in fishing, which takes great numbers of fish. Wolf's peach (Bot.), the tomato, or love apple (Lycopersicum esculentum). Wolf spider (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of running ground spiders belonging to the genus Lycosa, or family Lycosid[ae]. These spiders run about rapidly in search of their prey. Most of them are plain brown or blackish in color. See Illust. in App. Zebra wolf (Zo["o]l.), a savage carnivorous marsupial (Thylacinus cynocephalus) native of Tasmania; -- called also Tasmanian wolf.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wolves, wolfs, wolfing, wolfed) 1. A wolf is a wild animal that looks like a large dog. N-COUNT 2. If someone wolfs their food, they eat it all very quickly and greedily. (INFORMAL) I was back in the changing-room wolfing tea and sandwiches. VERB: V n • Wolf down means the same as wolf. He wolfed down the rest of the biscuit and cheese... She bought a hot dog from a stand on a street corner and wolfed it down. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P 3. If someone cries wolf, they say that there is a problem when there is not, with the result that people do not believe them when there really is a problem. PHRASE: V inflects

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Heb. zeeb, frequently referred to in Scripture as an emblem of treachery and cruelty. Jacob's prophecy, "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf" (Gen. 49:27), represents the warlike character of that tribe (see Judg. 19-21). Isaiah represents the peace of Messiah's kingdom by the words, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb" (Isa. 11:6). The habits of the wolf are described in Jer. 5:6; Hab. 1:8; Zeph. 3:3; Ezek. 22:27; Matt. 7:15; 10:16; Acts 20:29. Wolves are still sometimes found in Palestine, and are the dread of shepherds, as of old.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

woolf

(1) ze'ebh (Ge 49:27; 11:6; 65:25; Jer 5:6; Eze 22:27; Hab 1:8; Ze 3:3; also as proper name, Zeeb, prince of Midian, Jud 7:25; 8:3; Ps 83:11); compare Arabic dhi'b, colloquial dhib, or dib;

(2) lukos (Mt 7:15; 10:16; Lu 10:3; Joh 10:12; Ac 20:29; Ecclesiasticus 13:17; compare 2 Esdras 5:18, lupus);

(3) 'iyim, the Revised Version (British and American) "wolves" (Isa 13:22; 34:14; Jer 50:39):

While the wolf is surpassed in size by some dogs, it is the fiercest member of the dog family (Canidae), which includes among others the jackal and the fox. Dogs, wolves and jackals are closely allied and will breed together. There is no doubt that the first dogs were domesticated wolves. While there are local varieties which some consider to be distinct species, it is allowable to regard all the wolves of both North America, Europe, and Northern Asia (except the American coyote) as members of one species, Canis lupus. The wolf of Syria and Palestine is large, light colored, and does not seem to hunt in packs. Like other wolves it is nocturnal. In Palestine it is the special enemy of the sheep and goats. This fact comes out in two of the seven passages cited from the Old Testament, in all from the New Testament, and in the two from Apocrypha. In Ge 49:27 Benjamin is likened to a ravening wolf. In Eze 22:27, and in the similar Ze 3:3, the eiders of Jerusalem are compared to wolves. In Jer 5:6 it is a wolf that shall destroy the people of Jerusalem, and in Hab 1:8 the horses of the Chaldeans "are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves." Babylon and Edom (Isa 13:22; 34:14; Jer 50:39) are to be the haunts of 'iyim (the Revised Version (British and American) "wolves") and other wild creatures.

The name of Zeeb, prince of Midian (Jud 7:25; 8:3), has its parallel in the Arabic, Dib or Dhib, which is a common name today. Such animal names are frequently given to ward off the evil eye.

See also TOTEMISM.

Alfred Ely Day

Moby Thesaurus

African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, Casanova, Don Juan, Lothario, Mafioso, Young Turk, amorist, atonalism, atonality, batten, beast, beldam, bolt, bolt down, bomber, brush wolf, brute, cacophony, chaser, clinker, coyote, cram, debauchee, demon, devil, devour, dingo, discord, discordance, discordancy, disharmony, dissonance, dissonancy, dissonant chord, dragon, engorge, fiend, fire-eater, firebrand, flatness, fool around, fox, fury, gallant, gay deceiver, gay dog, glut, gluttonize, gobble, goon, gorge, gorilla, gormandize, gulp, gulp down, gunsel, guttle, guzzle, hardnose, heartbreaker, hell-raiser, hellcat, hellhound, hellion, holy terror, hood, hoodlum, hothead, hotspur, hyena, incendiary, ingurgitate, inharmoniousness, inharmony, jackal, killer, lady-killer, lecher, libertine, live to eat, lobo, lover-boy, mad dog, madcap, masher, medicine wolf, mess around, monster, mugger, off note, philander, philanderer, play around, prairie wolf, profligate, rake, rakehell, rapist, raven, revolutionary, reynard, rip, roue, rounder, savage, seducer, sharpness, she-wolf, skirt chaser, slop, slosh, sour note, sourness, spitfire, stridor, stuff, swinger, termagant, terror, terrorist, tiger, tigress, timber wolf, tough, tough guy, tunelessness, ugly customer, unharmoniousness, unmusicality, untunefulness, violent, virago, vixen, walking phallus, wanton, wild beast, witch, wolf down, woman chaser, womanize, womanizer