any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, of the dog family Canidae, especially C. lupus, usually hunting in packs, formerly common throughout the Northern Hemisphere but now chiefly restricted to the more unpopulated parts of its range.
the fur of any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, especially C. lupus.
any of various animals of different families that are similar to C. lupus, such as the thylacine.
Astronomy. Wolf, the constellation Lupus.
the larva of any of various small insects infesting granaries.
a cruelly rapacious person.
Informal. a man who makes amorous advances to many women.
Music.
the harsh discord heard in certain chords of keyboard instruments, especially the organ, when tuned on some system of unequal temperament.
a chord or interval in which harsh discord appears when tuned on some system of unequal temperament.
(in bowed instruments) a discordant or false vibration in a string due to a defect in structure or adjustment of the instrument.
wolf in sheep's clothing, a person who conceals evil intentions or character beneath an innocent exterior.
keep the wolf from the door, to avert poverty or starvation; provide sufficiently for.
Their small inheritance kept the wolf from the door.
throw (someone or something) to the wolves / dogs, to place or leave in a bad situation with no assistance, especially in order to protect oneself.
The coach threw his rookie players to the wolves following their embarrassing loss.
cry wolf, to give a false alarm.
Is she really sick or is she just crying wolf ?
Baron Christian von. Christian von Wolff.
Friedrich August 1759–1824, German classical scholar.
Hugo 1860–1903, Austrian composer.
a male given name.
a predatory canine mammal, Canis lupus, which hunts in packs and was formerly widespread in North America and Eurasia but is now less common See also timber wolf
any of several similar and related canines, such as the red wolf and the coyote ( prairie wolf )
the fur of any such animal
another name for the thylacine
a voracious, grabbing, or fiercely cruel person or thing
informal a man who habitually tries to seduce women
informal the destructive larva of any of various moths and beetles
Also called: wolf note. music
an unpleasant sound produced in some notes played on the violin, cello, etc, owing to resonant vibrations of the belly
an out-of-tune effect produced on keyboard instruments accommodated esp to the system of mean-tone temperament See temperament
to give a false alarm
to ward off starvation or privation
a person or animal who prefers to be alone
to abandon or deliver to destruction
a malicious person in a harmless or benevolent disguise
to gulp (down)
(intr) to hunt wolves
Friedrich August (ˈfriːdrɪç ˈauɡʊst). 1759–1824, German classical scholar, who suggested that the Homeric poems, esp the Iliad, are products of an oral tradition
Hugo (ˈhuːɡo). 1860–1903, Austrian composer, esp of songs, including the Italienisches Liederbuch and the Spanisches Liederbuch
Howlin'. See Howlin' Wolf
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English wulf; cognate with German Wolf, Old Norse ulfr, Gothic wulfs, all from Germanic wulfaz; akin to Polish wilk, Czech vlk, Lithuanian vil̃kas, Sanskrit vṛka-, and Latin lupus, Greek lýkos
A wolf is a larger, wilder relative of your pet dog. Like your cocker spaniel, a wolf is a canine. Unlike your cocker spaniel, a wolf isn't nice to cuddle with during a thunderstorm. You can find wolves in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, although there are significantly fewer of them today than there once were. Conservation measures have steadied the wolf population in remote and rural areas since the 1970s, however, so they're no longer considered endangered. Wolves rarely attack humans, unless they're sick with rabies. As a verb, to wolf means to eat very fast — in other words, to eat as voraciously as a wolf.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I always convince him, but last year, I knew, this time he actually saw the wolf."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
He noted the peninsula had once been home to animals such as pronghorn, sea otter, North American porcupine, Humboldt marten, gray wolf, American black bear, grizzlies, northern fur seal and Steller sea lion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
His principal legislative interest has been to delist the gray wolf as a federal endangered species.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
Nobody has an answer – not Lady Eboshi, certainly not San’s wolf mother or a monk who turns out not to be a monk at all.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Even as Torak was wondering how to put that in wolf talk, a man rose from the long-fire and crossed the clearing towards him.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
It was about the possibility that West Hills brothers Jim and Randy Wolf, both in the minor leagues at the time, could one day be together in the big leagues as umpire and pitcher.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
“No one in Wolf Pen leadership, Board leadership, or management leadership is providing shareholders with any comfort on why the Company is an investment worth holding.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Most of the Brown family have joined Wolf Pen, which has a seven-member board of its own that decides how the shares it controls are voted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
The OpenAI incident has, as Hugging Face's co-founder Thomas Wolf described it, come as a "wake-up call" for the tech industry since it happened at the end of July.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Wolf broke into a big wolf smile, wagging his hindquarters and nibble-greeting Torak rapturously under the chin.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
He was trying to back up his leader, but accidentally threw him to the wolves.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
Wisconsin can do whatever it wants with its wolves.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
The lakes region Mr. Hoffman describes as “magnetic and mercurial” is home to bears, wolves, badgers, otters and a surprising variety of other creatures, yet their ways of life are being threatened.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Rather than humans simply taking control of wolves, Mitchell argues that people and wolves may initially have entered the relationship as relatively equal participants.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Three children who had been raised by wolves had certainly known enough of death to understand: A duck, once eaten, does not come back to paddle ’round the pond another day.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Costa conveys nearly everything he needs to simply through his arrangement of the actors’ bodies: The man hungrily wolfs down his food in the foreground, chattering about Joaquim’s kindness and decency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2020
Alleged assailants in both cases have been painted as lone wolfs acting out of mental instability and disagreement with the politicians’ messages.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2018
He wheels his bike confidently up to the cafe, birdlike and sprightly in a striped shirt and skinny jeans, and wolfs down an éclair.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2016
Even the highest-ranking executive shamelessly wolfs down a taco.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2015
He sits at the kitchen table, pushing aside the pulled-apart toaster, and wolfs the eggs down.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
I don’t know why, but I was suddenly ravenous and wolfed down a dozen saltines and two chocolate chip cookies just to chase the taste of my humiliation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
On January 2, I wolfed down a breakfast of dehydrated porridge with Christian Wild, a postdoctoral scholar who works with Pettit.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 18, 2022
That recalls Iowa’s state fair, where generations of presidential candidates have worked the porkchop grill and wolfed down deep-fried versions of all imaginable foodstuffs.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
The children wolfed down usually verboten sugary cereals, while the dads pounded coffees and breakfast sandwiches.
From Washington Post ● May 27, 2021
Prisoners received their portions of food and immediately wolfed them down.
From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren
I saw something about Messi wolfing on a brisket sandwich at a Buc-ee’s but without video proof, I suspect that may have been an AI hallucination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“I would be wolfing down this food,” Walton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
This, of course, was why I was unable to tear myself away from the deck, wolfing down meals and sleeping as little as possible.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2021
Had she fallen while wolfing and lost that point, Andrade would have topped the podium, with—all other points being equal—Lee all the way in fifth place.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2021
I was wolfing it down already, crazy to head for town.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
