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WOLF - 9 dictionary results

wolf

  [woolf] noun, plural wolves  [woolvz] , verb
Use WOLF in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, of the dog family Canidae, esp. C. lupus, usually hunting in packs, formerly common throughout the Northern Hemisphere but now chiefly restricted to the more unpopulated parts of its range.
2. the fur of such an animal.
3. any of various wolflike animals of different families, as the thylacine.
4. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Lupus.
5. the larva of any of various small insects infesting granaries.
6. a cruelly rapacious person.
7. Informal. a man who makes amorous advances to many women.
8. Music.
a. the harsh discord heard in certain chords of keyboard instruments, esp. the organ, when tuned on some system of unequal temperament.
b. a chord or interval in which such a discord appears.
c. (in bowed instruments) a discordant or false vibration in a string due to a defect in structure or adjustment of the instrument.
–verb (used with object)
9. to devour voraciously (often fol. by down): He wolfed his food.
–verb (used without object)
10. to hunt for wolves.
—Idioms
11. cry wolf, to give a false alarm: Is she really sick or is she just crying wolf?
12. keep the wolf from the door, to avert poverty or starvation; provide sufficiently for: Their small inheritance kept the wolf from the door.
13. wolf in sheep's clothing, a person who conceals his or her evil intentions or character beneath an innocent exterior.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE wulf; c. G Wolf, ON ulfr, Goth wulfs, Pol wilk, Lith vil̃kas, Skt vṛka; akin to L lupus, Gk lýkos

Related forms:
wolflike, adjective

Wolf

  [vawlf]
–noun
1. Baron Christian von. Wolff, Baron Christian von.
2. Frie⋅drich Au⋅gust  [free-drikh ou-goost] , 1759–1824, German classical scholar.
3. Hu⋅go  [hoo-goh] , 1860–1903, Austrian composer.
4. a male given name.

Wolff

  [vawlf; Eng. woolf]
–noun
1. Chris⋅ti⋅an von  [kris-tee-ahn fuhn] , Baron. Also, Wolf. 1679–1754, German philosopher and mathematician.
2. Kas⋅par Frie⋅drich  [kahs-pahr free-drikh] , 1733–94, German anatomist and physiologist.
Related forms:
Wolff⋅i⋅an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wolf   (wŏŏlf)   
n.   pl. wolves (wŏŏlvz)
    1. Either of two carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae, especially the gray wolf of northern regions, that typically live and hunt in hierarchical packs and prey on livestock and game animals.
    2. The fur of such an animal.
    3. Any of various similar or related mammals, such as the hyena.
    4. A harshness in some tones of a bowed stringed instrument produced by defective vibration.
    5. Dissonance in perfect fifths on a keyboard instrument tuned to a system of unequal temperament.
  2. The destructive larva of any of various moths, beetles, or flies.
  3. One that is regarded as predatory, rapacious, and fierce.
  4. Slang A man given to paying unwanted sexual attention to women.
  5. Music
    1. A harshness in some tones of a bowed stringed instrument produced by defective vibration.
    2. Dissonance in perfect fifths on a keyboard instrument tuned to a system of unequal temperament.
tr.v.   wolfed, wolf·ing, wolfs
To eat greedily or voraciously: "The town's big shots were ... wolfing down the buffet" (Ralph Ellison).

[Middle English, from Old English wulf; see wkwo- in Indo-European roots.]
Wolf   (vôlf)   
Austrian composer known for his musical settings of the poetry of Goethe and Italian and Spanish writers and for the opera Der Corregidor (1895).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : WOLF
Spanish: lobo,
German: der Wolf,
Japanese: おおかみ
More Translations »

wolf 
O.E. wulf, from P.Gmc. *wulfaz (cf. O.S. wulf, O.N. ulfr, O.Fris., Du., O.H.G., Ger. wolf, Goth. wulfs), from PIE *wlqwos/*lukwos, from base *wlp-/*lup- (cf. Skt. vrkas, Avestan vehrka-; Albanian ulk; O.C.S. vluku; Rus. volcica; Lith. vilkas "wolf;" O.Pers. Varkana- "Hyrcania," district southeast of the Caspian Sea, lit. "wolf-land;" probably also Gk. lykos, L. lupus). The verb meaning "eat like a wolf" is attested from 1862. Wolves as a symbol of lust are ancient, e.g. Roman slang lupa "whore," lit. "she-wolf" (preserved in Sp. loba, It. lupa, Fr. louve). The equation of "wolf" and "prostitute, sexually voracious female" persisted into 12c., but by Elizabethan times wolves had become primarily symbolic of male lust. The specific use of wolf for "sexually aggressive male" first recorded 1847; wolf-whistle first attested 1952. The image of a wolf in sheep's skin is attested from c.1400. See here for a discussion of "wolf" in I.E. history.
"This manne can litle skyl ... to saue himself harmlesse from the perilous accidentes of this world, keping ye wulf from the doore (as they cal it)." ["The Institution of a Gentleman," 1555]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Wolf

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.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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wolf

In addition to the idiom beginning with wolf, also see cry wolf; keep the wolf from the door; lone wolf.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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