catcall
Americannoun
-
catcalls
plural
verb (used without object)
-
catcalls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
catcalled,
past participle, past
-
catcalling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
catcalls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
catcalled,
past participle, past
-
catcalling
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
catcallsimple
-
catcallssimple
-
have catcalledperfect
-
has catcalledperfect
-
am catcallingprogressive
-
are catcallingprogressive
-
is catcallingprogressive
-
have been catcallingperfect progressive
-
has been catcallingperfect progressive
Past
-
catcalledsimple
-
had catcalledperfect
-
was catcallingprogressive
-
were catcallingprogressive
-
had been catcallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of catcall
First recorded in 1650–60; cat ( def. ) + call
Explanation
Boooo! Hisss! Come on ref! Are you blind?! Those are just a few family-friendly catcalls, or rowdy cries of disapproval. Next time you're stuck watching a terrible movie, don't throw rotten tomatoes at the screen. Try a catcall instead. The impassioned taunts and disapproving shouts are already a staple at sporting events across the globe. They're also a favorite among construction workers, who like to whistle at and catcall the ladies walking by. Which, by the way, is totally inappropriate.
Vocabulary lists containing catcall
Our Town
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Flowers for Algernon
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The Magician's Nephew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Every time I would skate, people would catcall us or yell at us to do a kickflip,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
Tuberville smiles at what amounts to an Alabama catcall, but he doesn’t engage.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 27, 2020
About 6,000 people jammed the Civic Auditorium to cheer, boo, catcall and heckle.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2020
Men catcall her on the street; she breaks down, in one instance, and screams.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 11, 2019
These were cynical times, but no one risked a catcall.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
To wit, a man catcalls her as she walks past and she yells, “I object!”
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
The catcalls came after frustrated ticketholders waited for hours in lines that stretched more than two blocks outside Madison Square Garden on Monday due to the intense security restrictions that came with the president's appearance.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
“Never,” reported one of Paris’s better literary reviews, “has a painting excited so much laughter, mockery, and catcalls as this ‘Olympia.’”
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2023
When the catcalls and chants rain down on Bregman or Altuve, it’s not because Philadelphia has some special, specific venom toward either of them.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2022
We all started screaming with him, blocking out the catcalls from the Whippoorwills and their fans.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
I don't think the show has a goal of getting people excited about being catcalled as we know how frustrating, annoying and dangerous that could be.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2023
Rant to all of the “fans” who talked loudly, catcalled and screamed throughout the quieter parts of the performance, even after Mellencamp repeatedly asked them to be quiet.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
In Memphis on Saturday, protesters chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets!" angrily catcalled a police car that was monitoring the march, with several making obscene gestures.
From Reuters ● Jan. 28, 2023
"I have never been catcalled, but my friends have been and it isn't very nice," he says.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2018
They whined it, they catcalled it, they shrieked it in falsetto imitation of Clarence's mother.
From Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
“They were catcalling and whistling, and the crew all started doing versions of the dance. It sparked a lot of joy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025
Whilst serving as equalities minister in 2018, Ms Schiappa brought in legislation outlawing catcalling and street harassment.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2023
Britain’s government said Friday that it was backing legislation to criminalize public sexual harassment, joining a handful of countries that have made specific offenses such as catcalling punishable by law.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
A bill introduced by Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark will see wolf-whistling, catcalling and staring persistently become an offence in England.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2022
“Brocklehurst, Mandy” went to Ravenclaw too, but “Brown, Lavender” became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron’s twin brothers catcalling.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
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.
