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
- howlingly adverb
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
Ms McCullough said: "He was so loud. He was howling, crying and screaming."
From BBC • Mar. 5, 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
But the shadows moved closer, bringing with them their freezing cold and howling sound.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
