howling
Americanadjective
-
producing or uttering a howling noise.
a howling mob.
-
desolate, dismal, or dreary.
a howling wilderness.
-
Informal. very great; tremendous.
a howling success.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of howling
1250–1300; Middle English houlinge (gerund); see howl, -ing 2
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.
"To find wolf kills locally, ravens likely use short-range cues, like monitoring wolf behavior or listening to wolf howling," says Loretto.
From Science Daily • Mar. 19, 2026
An azure booth is flanked by an abstracted mermaid sculpture, and elsewhere howling wolves are engraved into the bar tops.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
This felt like a room in which the howling winds of nothing were totally emblematic of where we are in the law right now.
From Slate • Jan. 21, 2026
The scandals surrounding the King's brother Andrew have been like a howling gale in recent weeks, but this was a moment of quiet and stillness.
From BBC • Nov. 9, 2025
He pounded on the door, desperate to be heard over the sound of the thunder and the howling of the wind.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
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.
