wolf — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Synonyms

   grey wolf

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   He would listen quietly at meetings of the Politburo, or to distinguished visitors, puffing at his Dunhill pipe, doodling aimlessly - his secretaries Poskrebyshev and Dvinsky write that his pads were sometimes covered with the phrase ‘Lenin-teacher-friend’, but the last foreigner to visit him, in February 1953, noted that he was doodling wolves.

2. Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily. Any of several related canines that resemble Canis lupus in appearance, especially those of the genus Canis.

   Usage

   • Countable

3. A man who makes amorous advances to many women.

4. A wolf tone or wolf note.

   Examples

   The soft violin solo was marred by persistent wolves.

5. Any very ravenous, rapacious, or destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   They toiled hard to keep the wolf from the door.

   the bee wolf

   More examples (1)

   “[…] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”

6. One of the destructive, and usually hairy, larvae of several species of beetles and grain moths.

7. A white worm which infests granaries, the larva of Nemapogon granella, a tineid moth.

8. A wolf spider (Lycosidae spp.).

9. An eating ulcer or sore. See lupus.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf into thy side

10. A willying machine, that uses willow twigs to cleanse wool.

    Examples

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    The loosening and purifying of the raw cotton from the various impurities , such as sand, grit, &c., is accomplished by beating with the hand, or by the Wolf machine, by means of a cylinder, the surface of which is covered with sharp iron teeth

Verb

1. To devour; to gobble; to eat (something) voraciously.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   "Here's these legal ferrets has got our Puddin' in their clutches, and here's us, spellbound with anguish, watchin' them wolfin' it."

   After a wolfed burger dinner, I called the night number at Administrative Vice and inquired about known lesbian gathering places.

   More examples (1)

   Vicars seated himself and began wolfing a sandwich.

2. To make amorous advances to many women; to hit on women; to cruise for sex.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Slang

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   [1940s Chicago punk:] ‘I’ve seen a thing or two in my time,’ he still liked to boast, ‘that was how I found out the best place for wolfin’ ain’t the taverns. It ain’t in dance halls ’r on North Clark on Saturday night. It’s in the front row in Sunday school on Sunday mornin’. Oh yeh, I know a thing or two, I been around.’

3. To hunt for wolves.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

Noun

1. any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs

   Broader terms

   caninecanid

2. a man who is aggressive in making amorous advances to women

   Synonyms

   woman chaserskirt chasermasher

   Broader terms

   womanizerwomaniserphilanderer

3. a cruelly rapacious person

   Synonyms

   beastsavagebrutewildcat

   Broader terms

   attackeraggressorassailantassaulter

Verb

1. eat hastily

   Synonyms

   wolf down

   Broader terms

   eat

   Examples

   The teenager wolfed down the pizza