any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, of the dog family Canidae, especially C. lupus, usually hunting in packs, formerly common throughout the Northern Hemisphere but now chiefly restricted to the more unpopulated parts of its range.
the fur of any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, especially C. lupus.
any of various animals of different families that are similar to C. lupus, such as the thylacine.
Astronomy. Wolf, the constellation Lupus.
the larva of any of various small insects infesting granaries.
a cruelly rapacious person.
Informal. a man who makes amorous advances to many women.
Music.
the harsh discord heard in certain chords of keyboard instruments, especially the organ, when tuned on some system of unequal temperament.
a chord or interval in which harsh discord appears when tuned on some system of unequal temperament.
(in bowed instruments) a discordant or false vibration in a string due to a defect in structure or adjustment of the instrument.
wolf in sheep's clothing, a person who conceals evil intentions or character beneath an innocent exterior.
keep the wolf from the door, to avert poverty or starvation; provide sufficiently for.
Their small inheritance kept the wolf from the door.
throw (someone or something) to the wolves / dogs, to place or leave in a bad situation with no assistance, especially in order to protect oneself.
The coach threw his rookie players to the wolves following their embarrassing loss.
cry wolf, to give a false alarm.
Is she really sick or is she just crying wolf ?
Baron Christian von. Christian von Wolff.
Friedrich August 1759–1824, German classical scholar.
Hugo 1860–1903, Austrian composer.
a male given name.
a predatory canine mammal, Canis lupus, which hunts in packs and was formerly widespread in North America and Eurasia but is now less common See also timber wolf
any of several similar and related canines, such as the red wolf and the coyote ( prairie wolf )
the fur of any such animal
another name for the thylacine
a voracious, grabbing, or fiercely cruel person or thing
informal a man who habitually tries to seduce women
informal the destructive larva of any of various moths and beetles
Also called: wolf note. music
an unpleasant sound produced in some notes played on the violin, cello, etc, owing to resonant vibrations of the belly
an out-of-tune effect produced on keyboard instruments accommodated esp to the system of mean-tone temperament See temperament
to give a false alarm
to ward off starvation or privation
a person or animal who prefers to be alone
to abandon or deliver to destruction
a malicious person in a harmless or benevolent disguise
to gulp (down)
(intr) to hunt wolves
Friedrich August (ˈfriːdrɪç ˈauɡʊst). 1759–1824, German classical scholar, who suggested that the Homeric poems, esp the Iliad, are products of an oral tradition
Hugo (ˈhuːɡo). 1860–1903, Austrian composer, esp of songs, including the Italienisches Liederbuch and the Spanisches Liederbuch
Howlin'. See Howlin' Wolf
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English wulf; cognate with German Wolf, Old Norse ulfr, Gothic wulfs, all from Germanic wulfaz; akin to Polish wilk, Czech vlk, Lithuanian vil̃kas, Sanskrit vṛka-, and Latin lupus, Greek lýkos
A wolf is a larger, wilder relative of your pet dog. Like your cocker spaniel, a wolf is a canine. Unlike your cocker spaniel, a wolf isn't nice to cuddle with during a thunderstorm. You can find wolves in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, although there are significantly fewer of them today than there once were. Conservation measures have steadied the wolf population in remote and rural areas since the 1970s, however, so they're no longer considered endangered. Wolves rarely attack humans, unless they're sick with rabies. As a verb, to wolf means to eat very fast — in other words, to eat as voraciously as a wolf.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nobody has an answer – not Lady Eboshi, certainly not San’s wolf mother or a monk who turns out not to be a monk at all.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
In fact, the domestication of wolf to dog dovetailed into the emerging social structures of humankind, a coevolution documented in ancient petroglyphs of hunting from around 9000 B.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Researchers at UC Davis found cattle DNA in 72% of wolf scat samples collected in the summers of 2022 and 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
At the center of the debate is a claim that willow crown volume increased by 1,500 percent following wolf recovery.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
‘Shall I tell you,’ said Saeunn, ‘why you can talk to the wolf?’
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
The OpenAI incident has, as Hugging Face's co-founder Thomas Wolf described it, come as a "wake-up call" for the tech industry since it happened at the end of July.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
His office has received emails from parents seeking jobs for their children, and Wolf says he’s always wondered if the kids even knew.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
“It’s cheating. But sometimes it’s easier to cheat,” Wolf said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Wolf said the breach was "very different" from the usual cyber attacks that Hugging Face often faces and that OpenAI quickly informed the company that its models were behind the hack.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Wolf didn’t like the climb any more than Torak.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Rather than humans simply taking control of wolves, Mitchell argues that people and wolves may initially have entered the relationship as relatively equal participants.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Another paper examined how the return of wolves to Wisconsin affected car crashes with deer.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The park's previous grey wolves, which had arrived together in 2010, faced a number of age-related health issues, with Cedar, Idaho and Rocky dying first, leaving just Chaser and Aspen.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The study reaffirms fears that many wolves are becoming dependent on cattle as a primary food source as it is easier to feed on slow-moving, fatty cows than stalk the state’s dwindling deer population.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Their puppyish behavior was a consequence of having been raised by wolves, although, as Penelope had discovered, they may have had some human help as well.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Costa conveys nearly everything he needs to simply through his arrangement of the actors’ bodies: The man hungrily wolfs down his food in the foreground, chattering about Joaquim’s kindness and decency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2020
Alleged assailants in both cases have been painted as lone wolfs acting out of mental instability and disagreement with the politicians’ messages.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2018
Even the highest-ranking executive shamelessly wolfs down a taco.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2015
He's a boy and wolfs his food down.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2015
He stands at the counter and wolfs down the rest of the pizza.
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
As a teenager, I wolfed down tomes such as “Salem’s Lot,” “The Green Mile,” “Firestarter” and “Carrie.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
On January 2, I wolfed down a breakfast of dehydrated porridge with Christian Wild, a postdoctoral scholar who works with Pettit.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 18, 2022
That recalls Iowa’s state fair, where generations of presidential candidates have worked the porkchop grill and wolfed down deep-fried versions of all imaginable foodstuffs.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
Just before 1 p.m., the pair wolfed down half-smokes before they shot over to Langston.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2022
Her handmaids wolfed theirs down giggling and grinning, though the men of her khas sniffed at the grilled meat suspiciously.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
I saw something about Messi wolfing on a brisket sandwich at a Buc-ee’s but without video proof, I suspect that may have been an AI hallucination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Inside over breakfast, the chatter of possible strikes and crew members wolfing down baked beans, fried eggs and mugs of tea.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2024
“I would be wolfing down this food,” Walton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
He was Joey Chestnut wolfing down hot dogs, but without the prize at the end.
From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2023
Chapter Eleven sprawls on the carpet, wolfing candy.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
