mewl

American  

[myool] / myul /

verb (used without object)

1. to cry, as a baby, young child, or the like; whimper.

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mewl British  

/ mjuːl /

verb

1. (intr) (esp of a baby) to cry weakly; whimper (often in the phrase mewl and puke )

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noun

1. such a cry

Other Word Forms

• mewler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of mewl

First recorded in 1590–1600; imitative

Explanation

To mewl is to cry in a feeble way, like a tired baby or a sick cat. The pitiful sound of kittens as they mewl for their distracted mother is heartbreaking. There's a pitiful quality when someone mewls, a weakness and vulnerability to the soft sound, which usually characterizes the cry of a baby or young animal. Shakespeare used it in his famous "All the world's a stage" speech from As You Like It, describing an infant "mewling and puking in the nurse's arms." Mewl is imitative, one of those words formed by mimicking the sound they describe.

Example Sentences

But then I hear Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton mewl, and I’m suddenly hoping alongside Anita that someone vanquishes their foes with an unassailable vision.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026

The crowd’s roar was more of a mewl.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2021

Here’s a taster: “Its glass eyes seemed to come into proper focus, and then the doll flinched and started to shake. Its mouth fell open, emitting a low, eerie mewl …”

From The Guardian • Oct. 31, 2019

I regained a bit of my New York edge listening to Mr. Lin mewl at his Houston news conference that he would have preferred New York, if only the billionaire had met his price.

From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2012

And in the background, the constant, high, whining mewl of local disapproval.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Related Words

• break down
• complain
• grieve
• howl
• moan
• mourn
• sob
• wail
• whimper