howling
Americanadjective
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producing or uttering a howling noise.
a howling mob.
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desolate, dismal, or dreary.
a howling wilderness.
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Informal. very great; tremendous.
a howling success.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- howlingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of howling
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.
A 19th-Century Anglo-Indian journal derided the voices of boys playing women as "discordant", comparing them unfavourably to "howling jackals".
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
Umpires are already howling about being second-guessed in public, no surprise there.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
"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
No Mother howling about my responsibility to the pack.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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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.