wolf

Etymology

From Middle English wolf, from Old English wulf, ƿulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz (compare Saterland Frisian Wulf, West Frisian and Dutch wolf, German Wolf, Norwegian and Danish ulv), from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos; akin to Sanskrit वृक (vṛka), Persian گرگ‎ (gorg), Lithuanian vilkas, Russian волк (volk), Albanian ujk, Latin lupus, Greek λύκος (lýkos), Tocharian B walkwe.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wo͝olf
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /wʊlf/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /wʊlf/, [wʊɫf]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊlf

Noun

wolf (plural wolves)

1. The gray wolf, specifically all subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) that are not dingoes or dogs.
2. A man who makes amorous advances on many women.
3. (music) A wolf tone or wolf note.
4. One of the destructive, and usually hairy, larvae of several species of beetles and grain moths.

   the bee wolf

5. (figuratively) Any very ravenous, rapacious, or destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     “ […] 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.”

   They toiled hard to keep the wolf from the door.

6. A white worm, or maggot, which infests granaries.
7. (obsolete) An eating ulcer or sore. See lupus.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Jeremy Taylor, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

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

8. A willying machine.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

Verb

wolf (third-person singular simple present wolfs, present participle wolfing, simple past and past participle wolfed)

1. (transitive) To devour; to gobble; to eat (something) voraciously.
   • 1987, James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia:

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

   • 2013, Neil Martin, Collected Stories of the Sea:

     Vicars seated himself and began wolfing a sandwich.

2. (intransitive, slang) To make amorous advances to many women; to hit on women; to cruise for sex.
   • 1949, Nelson Algren, The Man with the Golden Arm:

     [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.’

Further reading

• wolf on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• flow, fowl

Etymology

From Dutch wolf, from Middle Dutch wolf, from Old Dutch *wulf, *wolf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

Noun

wolf (plural wolwe)

1. wolf

Noun

wolf

1. wolf

References

• Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words]. Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien.

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wolf, from Old Dutch *wulf, *wolf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ʋɔlf/

Noun

wolf m (plural wolven, diminutive wolfje n, feminine wolvin)

1. wolf

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wulf, *wolf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

Noun

wolf m

1. wolf, grey wolf

Further reading

• “wolf (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “wolf (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Alternative forms

• wulf, woulf, wolfe

Etymology

From Old English wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wulf/

Noun

wolf (plural wolves, diminutive wolfy, wolfie)

1. wolf, lupine
2. terrifying person

Etymology

From Old High German wolf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

Noun

wolf m

1. wolf

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wulfaz.

Noun

wolf m (plural wolfa)

1. wolf

Etymology

From Old Frisian wolf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos. Compare Dutch and English wolf, German Wolf, Danish ulv.

Noun

wolf c (plural wolven)

1. wolf