gray wolf

noun

1. a wolf, Canis lupus, having a usually grizzled, blackish, or whitish coat: formerly common in Eurasia and North America, some subspecies are now reduced in numbers or near extinction.

Word History and Origins

Origin of gray wolf¹

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Example Sentences

Hunnicutt, gray wolf coordinator for the agency, was trying to track down one of them — the freshly minted Ashpan pack that consists of at least two wolves roaming eastern Shasta County.

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The state is home to what may be the densest population of black bears in the world, a growing number of gray wolves and ample mountain lions in some regions.

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The dire wolf genome likely differs from that of the gray wolf in millions or tens of millions of ways.

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The act has been credited with saving 99% of the species it protects from extinction, including bald eagles, California condors and Mexican gray wolves.

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With that ancient DNA, scientists identified gene variants specific to dire wolves and then performed multiplex gene editing with a genome from the gray wolf, dire wolves’ closest living relatives.

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