▪ I. wolf, n.
(wʊlf)
Pl. wolves (wʊlvz). Forms: sing. 1–6 wulf, 3–4 wlf (dat. -ue), 4–6 wulfe, 4–7 woulf(e, 4–8 wolfe, (1 uulf, 4 Sc. volf, 5 wlfe, wulff, Sc. wouff, 5–6 wolff(e, 5–8 woolf(e, 6 wolphe, Sc. vuolfe, volue, 6, 8 Sc. wowf, 7 wolph, in Comb. wolve, 8 Sc. wouf, 9 Sc. woof), 3– wolf. Gen. 1 wulfes, 3 wulues, etc., 4–6 wolfes, 5 wolfys, 6 woulfes, woluis, 6–7 woolfes, -ues, 7 wolues, 8 wolve's, 7– wolf's. pl. 1 wulfas, 3–4 wulues, 3–7 wolues, 4–6 woulfes, 4–7 wolfes, (4 woluys, -ez, wolwes, Sc. w(o)lfis, 5 woluess, vulves, 6 woulves, wolffes, wolfys, wulphes, Sc. woulfis, voulfis, wolffis, volf(f)is, voffis, voluis, vowis, wowes), 7 wolfs, 7–8 woolfs, 4– wolves.
[Com. Teut. and Indo-European: OE. wulf = OFris. wolf, OS., MLG. wulf, MDu. wolf, wulf (Du. wolf), OHG., MHG., G. wolf, ON. ulfr (Sw. ulf, Da. ulv), Goth. wulfs:—OTeut. *wulfaz. Feminine formations in Germanic are OE. wylf, OHG. wulpa (MHG. wülpe), ON. ylgr.
Indo-Eur. *w{ldotbl}q{supw}o- is represented outside Germanic by Skr. v{rdotblacu}kas, Zend vəhrkō, Gr. λύκος, Alb. ul'k, Arm. gail, L. (dial.) lupus, OSl. vlŭkŭ, OPruss. wilkis, Lith. vilkas, Lett. vìlks, and the corresp. fem. *wlq{supw}ī- by Skr. vṛk{imacacu}, Lith. vìlkė, Russ. volči-ca.
Various details of these relationships have been much disputed, and the proposed ultimate connexion with Gr. ἕλκειν to draw, OSl. vlĕką, Lith. velkù to tear, or L. vellĕre to pluck (see wool n.) is problematical.]
1. a. A somewhat large canine animal (Canis lupus) found in Europe, Asia, and N. America, hunting in packs, and noted for its fierceness and rapacity. Also applied, with or without defining word, to various other species of Canis resembling or allied to this: see also prairie-wolf, timber-wolf.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) L 332 Lupus, wulf. c 1000 Be manna wyrdum 12 (Gr.), Sceal hine wulf etan, har hæðstapa. c 1205 Lay. 21305 Þenne comed þe wlf wilde. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5774 King edgar..het þat he him sende ech ȝer..Þre þousend of wolues in name of truage. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1228 Lyons, libardes and wolwes kene. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 207 Wandren as wolues, and wasten ȝif þei mouwen. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3446 The wolfes in the wode, and the whilde bestes. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 16/2, I sought the, to thende that of the vulues ne of the euyll bestes thou were not eten ne all to torne. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxii. 57 Throw hiddowis ȝowling of the wowf [rime growf]. 1516 Kal. New Leg. Eng. (Pynson) 5 b, Two wood wulphes. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (S.T.S.) 66 Etine with vowis lions and oder bestis. 1549 Compl. Scot. viii. 73 The beiris, lyons, voluis, foxis, and dogis. 1552 Huloet, Wolfes denne, lupanarium. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 242 The trembling Lambe, inuironned with Wolues. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 753 The laps or fillets of a Wolues Liuer. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 27 The Woolues [are] not much bigger then our English Foxes. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 90 The Wolves,..of which are found two sorts; the Mastiff Wolf thick and short..; the Greyhound Wolf long and swift. c 1645 Howell Lett. I. iii. 120 Two huge Woolfs. a 1718 Prior Power 306 The Wolve's Portion, or the Vulture's Prey. 1726–46 Thomson Winter 395 Assembling wolves in raging troops descend. 1730 Ramsay Fables, Condemned Ass 7 The wowf and tod. 1814 Lewis & Clark Trav. Missouri (1815) I. 206 We caught in a trap a large gray wolf. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. xv. 48 The wolves howled from the prairies. 1858 Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. 99 The American wolf, Canis (lupus) occidentalis. 1880 Huxley in Proc. Zool. Soc. 278 The Indian Wolf, Lupus pallipes,..approaches the Jackals. 1888 F. Cowper Caedwalla 55, I have a wolf's snout hung about my neck, and no witch can hurt me. 1890 Mivart Dogs, Jackals, etc. 6 The size and proportions of the Wolf roughly resemble those of a large mastiff. 1891 Flower & Lydekker Study of Mammals 548 The true Wolves are (excluding some varieties of the domestic Dog) the largest members of the genus, and have a wide geographical range. 1902 Nature 30 Oct. 661/1 The South American maned wolf..carrying its head very low. |
b. In comparisons, with allusion to the fierceness or rapacity of the beast; often in contrast with the meekness of the sheep or lamb.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 16 Heonu ic sendo iuih suæ scip in middum vel inmong uulfa. c 1205 Lay. 1545 Corineus heom rasde to swa þe rimie wulf. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 31 [He] Bigon anan ase wed wulf to weorrin hali chirche. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5680 No licchere is broþer him nas þane wolf is a lomb. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 4047 Al so wolf þe schip gan driue, Arthour smot hem after swiþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10207 He fore with his fos in his felle angur, As a wolfe in his wodenes with wethurs in fold. 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractatis i. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 14 The reularis in the middis of it ar lyke woulfis rauisching thair pray. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 96 Hog in sloth, Foxe in stealth, Wolfe in greedinesse. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc i. 176 Unhappy France! Fiercer than evening wolves thy bitter foes Rush o'er the land. 1815 Byron Destr. Sennacherib 1 The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. 1860 All Year Round No. 63. 307 I'm as hungry as a wolf; run, or I shall eat thee! |
c. The skin or fur of the animal. (Chiefly
attrib.: see sense 11 a below.)
| 1805 Lewis & Clark Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Expedition (1904) II. 377, I have also observed some robes among them of beaver, moonox, and small wolves. 1876 Smithsonian Misc. Coll. XIII. vi. 69 Furs... Wolf, (Canis lupus)—linings, rugs, and robes. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 911/1 Wolf, the dressed skin of one of the varieties of wolf. 1974, etc. [see wolf hat, etc., sense 10 a below]. |
2. a. A figure or representation of a wolf.
| 1562 Legh Armory 97 b, The fielde is Azure, a wolfe Saliaunte, Argent. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xv. 145 Hee beareth Gules, two Wolues passant, Argent. 1727 C. Colden Hist. Five Ind. Nations Introd. (1747) 1 Three Tribes or Families, who distinguish themselves by three different Arms or Ensigns, the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf. 1870 C. C. Black tr. Demmin's Weapons of War 548 Another very usual [armourers'] mark is a wolf. 1885 E. Castle Sch. Fence Plate I, Grooved single-edged blade, with ‘wolf’ or ‘fox’ mark. |
b. Astron. The constellation
Lupus (
lupus 2).
| 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. iv. (1556) 270 This Centaure with his righte hande dooth holde a Wolfe, whiche is a seuerall constellation made of 19 starres. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 334 One detached branch of the Milky Way traverses the Wolf, and is lost in the Scorpion. |
3. Applied to other animals in some way resembling wolves.
a. (
a) In S. Africa, a hyena: see also
aard-wolf, strand-
wolf, tiger-
wolf. (
b) A Tasmanian marsupial,
Thylacinus cynocephalus: see also zebra-
wolf. Freq. as
Tasmanian wolf;
= thylacine.
| [1596 T. Johnson Cornucopiæ B 4, A certaine Wolfe called Hyena.] 1812 Anne Plumptre Lichtenstein's S. Africa II. 15 The spotted hyena, hyæna crocuta, is here called simply the wolf. 1891 Guide Zool. Gard., Melbourne (Morris) In this cage are two marsupial wolves, Thylacinus cynocephalus, or Tasmanian tigers as they are commonly called. 1908 Rider Haggard Ghost Kings iv. 53 She saw the hyenas, two of them, wolves as they are called in South Africa. 1941 E. Troughton Furred Animals Austral. 50 (heading) Tasmanian wolf or tiger. 1966 G. Durrell Two in Bush vi. 178 The predators are represented by such things as the Tasmanian Wolf—not a true wolf, of course, but a marsupial, looking remarkably like its counterpart. |
b. A name for various voracious fishes (after
Gr. λύκος, L.
lupus): see also
sea-wolf 2, river-
wolf.
| 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 251 Woolues of the sea which sum thynke to bee those fysshes that wee caule pikes. 1569 Blague Sch. Conceytes 153 The Cockatrice on a time went to the sea side in the clothing of a Monke, and called to him the Wolf..The Wolf fishe..knowing what he was, sayde [etc.]. 1634 [? Brathwait] Strange Metam. C 3, The Pike..is called the Wolfe of the water. 1653 Walton Angler vii. 144 Pikes..called the Tyrant of the Rivers, or the Freshwater-wolf, by reason of his bold, greedy, devouring disposition. 1808 Neill in Mem. Wernerian N.H. Soc. (1811) I. 539 Trigla Gurnardus. Grey Gurnard..known..as Captain, Hardhead, Goukmey, and Woof. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 16 Sept. 3/3 This defence of the ‘wolf of the stream’ will, we are afraid, be regarded in many quarters as nothing short of rank heresy. |
† c. = wolf-spider: see 11 e.
Obs.| 1608 Topsell Serpents 247 Spyders..which by reason of their rauenous gut..haue purchased to themselues the names of wolfes, and hunting Spyders. |
d. A name for various destructive insect larvæ,
esp. that of the wolf-moth, which infests granaries.
| 1682 Lister Godartius Of Insects 65 Live Wormes, which our Dutch Boors call Woolves. 1694 A. van Leeuwenhoek in Phil. Trans. XVIII. 194 The Wolf is a small white Worm armed with two red Sheers or Teeth..wherewith it bores and feeds on the Grains of Corn. 1743 H. Baker Microscope 223. 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. ii. (1818) I. 32 Leeuwenhoek's wolf (Tinea granella). |
4. = wolf tree, sense 11 e below.
| 1949 Q. Jrnl. Forestry XLIII. 127 Most props containing large knots have been prepared from quick-grown heavily branched trees such as wolves. 1966 Times 21 Apr. 16/7 Douglas fir plantations nearly always have some undesirable wolves which have to be cut out. |
5. a. A person or being having the character of a wolf; one of a cruel, ferocious, or rapacious disposition. In early use applied
esp. to the Devil or his agents (
wolf of hell); later most
freq., in allusion to certain biblical passages (
e.g. Matt. vii. 15, Acts xx. 29), to enemies or persecutors attacking the ‘flocks’ of the faithful.
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 24 Jan. 30 Þu eart deofles wulf. a 900 Cynewulf's Crist 256 Hafað se awyrᵹda wulf tostenced, deor dædscua, dryhten, þin eowde. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 149 Woluys of helle stranglen hem. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶694 As seith seint Augustyn, they been the deueles wolues that stranglen the sheepe of Ihesu crist. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 18 (Kalendar, June) Cyryce and Iulytte, kepe us fro þe wulfe. 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. A iij, It putteth from us the wulf the deuyll deuourer of mannes soule. 1577 Kendall Flowers Epigr. 43 The feend the woulfe of hell. |
| c 1205 Lay. 21315 Ich am wulf & he is gat. a 1225 Ancr. R. 120 Mon wroð is wulf, oðer leun, oðer unicorne. 13.. Cursor M. 20935 (Edin.), Paul..Eftirward bicom prechure, Schepe of wlue, meke of felle. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 513 [A priest] kepeth wel his folde So that the wolf ne made it nat myscarie. c 1450 Cov. Myst. vii. 102 From þe wulf to saue al shepe of his flok. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 153 The wolf from the dore To werryn and to kepe From theyr goostly shepe. 1577 [see 9 j]. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iv. (1922) 134 Since such a slye wolfe was entred among them, that could make justice the cloake of tirannye. 1637 Milton Lycidas 128 Besides what the grim Woolf with privy paw Daily devours apace. 1722 Croxall Fables æsop xlii. 79 If Wolves sometimes creep into the Church in Sheep's Cloathing. 1781 Cowper Charity 287 Let just restraint..Chain up the wolves and tigers of mankind. 1847 Tennyson Princess ii. 173 Why who are these? a wolf within the fold! A pack of wolves! 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 321 What good, honest, generous men at home, will be wolves and foxes on change! |
† b. Applied to a person, etc. that should be hunted down like a wolf. (
Cf. wolf's-head.)
Obs.| [1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 470 To hunt hym out of the land, With hund and horn, rycht as he were A volf.] ? 1554 W. Turner (title) The Huntyng of the Romyshe Vuolfe. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen VI, ii. iv. 13 Nay Warwicke, single out some other Chace, For I my selfe will hunt this Wolfe to death. 1606 Dekker Seven Deadly Sins 9 Hunt these English Wolues to death. a 1638 Brownlow Rep. ii. (1652) 113 He is called the Oppresser of the Poore, and Fleta calls him Woolfe which ought to be hunted from place to place. |
c. slang. (
a) A sexually aggressive male; a would-be seducer of women; (
b)
orig. U.S., a male homosexual seducer or one who adopts an active role with a partner.
Occas. applied to a woman: see
quot. 1968
s.v. wolfess 2.
| (a) 1847 Thackeray Van. Fair (1848) xxxvii. 335 ‘Rawdon,’ said Becky,..‘I must have a sheep-dog... I mean a moral shepherd's dog..to keep the wolves off me.’ 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. II. ii. 23, I vowed I'd tell Mark what I had seen and heard, and what sort of a wolf she allowed to make her presents of fine clothes. 1945 S. Lewis Cass Timberlane xix. 113 She was innocent, but this Roskinen was a wolf. 1968 [see karate v.]. 1973 ‘E. Peters’ City of Gold & Shadows ii. 25 He did not look like a wolf, but he did look like a young man with an eye for a girl. |
| (b) 1917 New Republic 13 Jan. 293/2 The sodomist, the degenerate, the homosexual wolf. 1931, etc. [see jocker]. 1950 Patterson & Conrad Scottsboro Boy ii. ii. 91, I learned men were having men. Old guys, they called them wolves, they saw me looking at this stuff and thought I might be a gal-boy. 1978 K. J. Dover Greek Homosexuality ii. 87 In prisons the ‘wolf’ is the active homosexual, and does not reverse roles with his partners. |
6. a. As a type of a destructive or ‘devouring’ agency,
esp. hunger or famine; often in such phrases as
to keep the wolf from the door (now always
= to ward off hunger or starvation).
| c 1470 Harding Chron. xcviii. xii. (1812) 181 Endowe hym now, with noble sapience By whiche he maye the wolf werre [v.r. bete] frome the gate. 1555 Instit. Gentl. G ij, This manne can litle skyl..to saue himself harmlesse from the perilous accidentes of this world, keping y⊇ wulf from the doore (as they cal it). c 1645 Howell Lett. vi. lx. (1650) I. 254 That Hee or Shee should have wherewith to support both,..at least to keep the Woolf from the door, otherwise 'twere a meer madnes to marry. 1679 J. Goodman Penit. Pard. i. ii. (1713) 31 That hungry Wolf, want and necessity, which now stands at his door. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 75/1 Poets call the Earth..the Woolf of the Gods, because it devours and consumes every thing. 1755 Mem. Capt. P. Drake II. v. 176 Business began to flag, and the most I could do was to keep the Wolf from the Door. 1858 [see 9 a]. 1891 Herman His Angel 73 It makes a lot of difference to..one's happiness if the wolf is not scratching at the door. |
b. Applied to a ravenous appetite or craving for food.
| 1576 Baker Gesner's Jewell of Health 66 b, The water cureth that sore feeding, which most men name the Wolfe. c 1600 G. Peele's Merrie Jests 18 Hauing as villanous a Wolfe in his belly as George. 1693 Humours Town 38 There is a monstrous Disease..in Nature, which they..call the Wolf, which makes the distemper'd eat beyond Reason. 1823 Scott Quentin D. x, I know thine appetite is a wolf... Canst thou yet hold out an hour without food? 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton vi, There was no breakfast to lounge over; their lounge was taken in bed, to try..to deaden the gnawing wolf within. |
7. a. A name for certain malignant or erosive diseases in men and animals (see
quots.);
esp. = lupus 4.
Obs. or
dial.| 1559 Morwyng Evonymus 86 Aqua vitae is commodious and profitable..against the disease called the Wulfe. 1572 J. Jones Bathes Buckstone 16 b, Frettinge vlceres, wolues in the brest, and many daungerous pustles. 1576 Turberv. Venerie (1908) 230 The disease called the Wolfe, which is a kernell or round bunch of flesh, which groweth..vntill it kill the dogge. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 131 A disease [in cattle] which they call the Woolfe, others the Tayle [tail n.1 10]. 1589 Nottingham Rec. IV. 225 A poore woman that had a woolfe in her legge. 1684 J. S. Profit & Pleas. United 207 (Horse), Wolf, or over-growing of the Flesh. Ibid. 208 The Shee-Wolf, or Boyls and Knobs on the Foot [of a horse]. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 2. 2/2 What is call'd by..Surgeons a Wolf, is a sort of Cancerous Ulcer, more properly so called when in the Legs. 1741 [see tail n.1 10]. 1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 108 The common people usually call a cancer in the breast a Wolf. 1801 Sporting Mag. XVII. 153 All sorts of cancers, wens, and wolves. |
† b. = wolf's-tooth: see 11
f. Obs.| 1607 Markham Cavel. vii. xxxvii. 54 The woolfes..are two sharp teeth more then nature allowes, growing out of the vpper iawes, nexte to the great teeth. |
8. A name for apparatus of various kinds.
† a. An ancient military engine with sharp teeth, employed for grasping battering-rams used by besiegers.
Obs.| 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxvi. K vj, Men make another engyn whiche is called wolffe that hath an yron bowed with grete and sharp teeth whiche engyn is in suche manere sette to the walle that hyt cometh and gropith the maste of the mowton, and holdeth it so fast that hit can not be drawe nother forward nor bakward. 1632 Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 150 Nor had they as much as iron Wolves [orig. lupi] and Crows to graspe the Ram withall. |
b. A kind of fishing-net: also
wolf-net (see 11 e).
| 1725 Bradley's Family Dict., Wolf, the name of a Net that is a great destroyer of Fish, as well in Rivers as in Ponds. 1847 Halliwell. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Wolf, a kind of fishing-net. |
c. Textile Manuf. A willow or willy (
willy n.1 3). (
Cf. G.
wolf,
Sw. vulf.)
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Wolf, a beating or opening machine, for tearing apart the tussocks of cotton as delivered in the bale. |
9. Mus. a. ‘The harsh howling sound of certain chords on keyed instruments, particularly the organ, when tuned by any form of unequal temperament’ (Grove's
Dict. Mus.); a chord or interval characterized by such a sound.
After G.
wolf (Arnolt Schlick,
Spiegel der Orgelmacher, 1511).
| 1788 in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Music (1871) 22 By this means the temperature of all thirds and ‘fifths’ can be highly improved, and what is called the ‘wolfe’ is entirely done away. 1889 Hipkins in Grove's Dict. Mus. IV. 188 The G{sharp} to the E♭, he [sc. Schlick] calls the ‘wolf’, and says it is not used as a dominant chord to cadence C{sharp}. Ibid. 485 In the mean-tone system..there is one fifth out of tune to this extent [nearly half a semitone]... There are also four false thirds, which are sharp to about the same extent... All chords into which any of these five intervals enter are intolerable, and are ‘wolves’. |
b. In instruments of the viol class, a harsh sound due to faulty vibration in certain notes.
| 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms. 1884 Haweis Mus. Life 225 A slight mistake in position [of the sound-bar], a looseness, an inequality or roughness of finish, will produce that hollow teeth-on-edge growl called the ‘wolf’. 1901 Blackw. Mag. July 15/2 There's a hantle o' wolfs on my father's strings. |
10. Phrases.
a. to cry ‘wolf’: to raise a false alarm (in allusion to the fable of the shepherd boy who deluded people with false cries of ‘Wolf!’).
b. to keep the wolf from the door: see 6.
c. to have or hold a wolf by the ears [
= Gr. τῶν ὠτῶν ἔχειν τὸν λύκον, L.
lupum auribus tenēre]: to be in a precarious situation or predicament (see
quots.).
† d. a hair of the same wolf:
cf. dog n.1 17 e.
† e. to howl among wolves [
= F.
hurler avec les loups]: to adapt oneself to one's company, though one disapproves of it.
f. a wolf in a lamb's skin, in sheep's clothing, etc.: a person who conceals malicious intentions under an appearance of gentleness or friendliness (in allusion to
Matt. vii. 15).
† g. to be in the wolf's mouth [
cf. F.
à la gueule du loup]: to be in deadly peril.
h. to see or have seen a wolf [
= Gr. λύκον ἰδεῖν, etc.]: to be tongue-tied (from the old belief that a man on seeing a wolf lost his voice).
i. to wake a sleeping wolf: to invite trouble or disturbance (
cf. dog n.1 17 k).
j. In various proverbial expressions.
k. to throw to the wolves: to sacrifice (a subordinate, friend, ally, etc.) to one's enemies in order to save oneself.
l. lone wolf: see
lone a. 3 c.
| a. [1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccclx. 332 The Boy..would be Crying a Wolf, a Wolf, when there was none, and then could not be Believed when there was.] 1858 Mrs. Craik Woman's Th. xii. 316 She begins to suspect she is ‘not so young as she used to be’; that after crying ‘Wolf’ ever since the respectable maturity of seventeen—..the grim wolf, old age, is actually showing his teeth in the distance. 1886 Baring-Gould Court Royal xxxviii, This is Beavis' cry of wolf, is it? |
| c. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 425 The Bishop of Rome,..as the prouerbe is, helde the woulfe by both eares,..he coueted to gratifie the kyng, and also feared themperours displeasure. 1631 Quarles Samson xi. 63, I have a Wolfe by th' eares; I dare be bold, Neither with safety, to let goe, nor hold: What shall I doe? 1884 Times 29 Oct. 9/3 These expressions come from a man who has a wolf by the ears, whose task is well-nigh desperate. |
| d. 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair i. iii, 'Twas a hot night with some of vs, last night, Iohn: shal we pluck a hayre o' the same wolfe, to-day? |
| e. 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. vi. 181 This diuelishe prouerbe..we must howle among the Wolues. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 187 What do you howling amongst Wolves, if you be not one? |
| f. [c 1400 Rom. Rose 6260 Who-so toke a wethers skin, And wrapped a gredy wolf therin.] c 1460 Wisdom 490 in Macro Plays 51 Ther ys a wolffe in a lombys skyn. 1533 More Debell. Salem xvi. 87 He wyl play the woulfe in a lambes skynne. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iii. 55 Thou Wolfe in Sheepes array. 1718 Breval Play is the Plot i. i. 9 Mercy o' me! what have we here then? a Wolf in Sheep's cloathing? 1722 [see 5]. 1857 Trollope Three Clerks xiv, Why had this tender lamb been allowed to wander out of the fold, while a wolf in sheep's clothing was invited into the pasture-ground? |
| g. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 42 Þan was Eilred in þe wolfes mouth. |
| h. [1480 Caxton Mirrour ii. xv. 100 Yf a wulf and a man see that one other fro ferre, he that is first seen becometh anon aferd. 1562 Legh Armory 98.] 1575 A. Fleming Virg. Bucol. ix. 29 Mœris holdes his tounge, The wolfe hath spide out Mœris fyrst. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 75 My Voice grows hoarse; I feel the Notes decay; As if the Wolves had seen me first to Day. 1767 Fawkes tr. Idyll. Theocritus xiv. 30 ‘What are you mute?’ I said—a waggish guest, ‘Perhaps she's seen a Wolf,’ rejoin'd in jest. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xviii, Our young companion has seen a wolf,..and he has lost his tongue in consequence. |
| i. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 174 Since al is wel, keep it so: wake not a sleeping Wolfe. |
| j. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3064 A fflye folweþ the honye; Þe wolf, careyn. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 202 We saie whishte, the Woulfe is at hande, when the same man cometh in the meane season, of whom we spake before. [After L. lupus in fabula.] 1577 Wolton Cast. Christians B iiij b, Lyons..doo not one encounter another, the Serpent stingeth no Serpent: but Man is a Woolfe to Man. 1643 J. Taylor (Water P.) Let. sent to London 6 It is a hard world when one Wolfe eates another. 1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. Y 67 You have given the Wolf the Wedder to keep. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 103, I mourn the pride And av'rice that make man a wolf to man. 1872 Browning Fifine ix, If hunger, proverbs say, allures the wolf from wood. |
| k. 1927 F. Harris My Life & Loves III. x. 146 But if Gladstone had had his letter back, I think the G.O.M. would have thrown Dilke to the wolves. 1958 Listener 6 Nov. 743/2 This able and agreeable doctor [sc. Lord Addison] was thrown to the wolves by a Prime Minister who had good reason to know that his own position was desperate. 1980 P. Kinsley Vatchman Switch xli. 236 If anyone..showed disloyalty he would throw him to the wolves. |
11. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as
wolf bark,
wolf bite,
wolf chase,
wolf den,
wolf eye,
wolf fur,
wolf growl,
wolf hair,
wolf hunt,
wolf kind,
wolf pack,
wolf pelt,
wolf pest,
wolf snow,
wolf tail,
wolf track,
wolf-trap; appositive, as
wolf ancestry,
wolf bitch,
wolf burd (
= offspring),
wolf cub,
wolf dam,
wolf nurse,
wolf whelp; in connexion with belief in lycanthropy or the association of human beings with wolves, as
wolf boy,
wolf brethren,
wolf charm,
wolf child,
wolf clan,
wolf dance,
wolf devil,
wolf life,
wolf man,
wolf mask,
wolf people,
wolf race,
wolf totem,
wolf type,
wolf woman; also with reference to the skin or fur of the animal, as
wolf-belt,
wolf coat,
wolf collar,
wolf hat,
wolf jacket,
wolf-shirt;
b. Objective, as
wolf-breeding,
wolf-catcher,
wolf-hunter,
wolf-hunting,
wolf-rider,
wolf-scaring,
wolf-slaying,
wolf-spearing ns. and
adjs. c. Agential or instrumental, as
wolf-begotten,
wolf-haunted,
wolf-moved adjs. d. Similative and parasynthetic, as
wolf-coloured,
wolf-eyed,
wolf-grey,
wolf-headed,
wolf-shaped adjs.; also
wolf-like adj. and
adv.| 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. iii, The great cur showed his teeth,—and the devilish instincts of his old *wolf-ancestry looked out of his eyes. |
| 1845 R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. ix. 251 Was that the *wolf-bark of the Corsican dynasty? |
| 1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid's Met. 73 The *wolf-begotten Nape. |
| 1883 Stallybrass Grimm's Teut. Mythol. III. 1094 Our oldest native notions make the assumption of wolf-shape depend on arraying oneself in a *wolf-belt or wolf-shirt. |
| c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) vi, When þe *wolfe bycche hath hir whelpes. 1820 Scott Abbot xix, He who speaks irreverently of the Holy Father..is the cub of a heretic wolf-bitch. |
| 1873 Fayrer Clin. Observ. India 261 *Wolf Bite of the Forearm. |
| 1857 Dalton (title) The *Wolf-Boy of China. |
| 1889 W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Oisin 77 *Wolf-breeding mountains. |
| 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xiv, As yet the *Wolf-Brethren and their pack killed no men. |
| 1827 Scott Highl. Widow v, There shall never be..dirge played, for thee or thy bloody *wolf-burd. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Louvetier, a *Wolfe-catcher. 1644 Early Recs. Portsmouth, R.I. (1901) 33 That the wolfe Catcher shall be payed out of the tresuery. |
| 1921 Chamb. Jrnl. July 473/1 The *wolf⁓charms he used. |
| 1824 in Coll. Missouri Hist. Soc. (1928) VI. 75 Had a *wolfe chase. 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West I. 244 That most exciting of sports, a wolf-chase on horse⁓back. |
| 1859 Lang Wand. India 268 In this district..‘a *wolf child,’ as the natives of India express it, was found some years ago. |
| 1890 Frazer Golden Bough iv. II. 351 The Indians of this part of America are divided into totem clans, of which the *Wolf clan is one of the principal. |
| 1977 P. Way Super-Celeste ii. 117 She put on her Siberian *wolf coat. |
| 1974 Selfridge Christmas Catal. 14 Leather coat with *wolf collar and hamster lining. |
| 1779 Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 135 The largest bird of Paradise..The breast..is black, or *wolf-coloured. 1926 Wolf-coloured [see keeshond]. |
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 55 Lyke rauening *woolfdams vpsoackt and gaunted in hunger. |
| 1908 Sunset Mag. Apr. 566/1 A *wolf-dance [by] painted naked savages. |
| c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 307 Þai fand in þe wud a *wulfe den & þer was wulfe-whelpis þerin, bod þer dam was away. |
| 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 70 We will teach them to shelter *Wolf⁓devils! |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 434 Her *wolfeyes shining. |
| 1866 Lytton Lost Tales Miletus, Fate Catchas 86 A *wolf-eyed rover. |
| 1883 ‘Ouida’ Wanda I. 15 The little fierce half-naked boy who in frost was wrapped in *wolf-fur. |
| 1863 Baring-Gould Iceland 118 Coarse *wolf grey hair. |
| 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 223 A deep *wolf-growl that silenced the curs. |
| 1865 Baring-Gould Werewolves v. 59 When the *wolf-hair began to break out and his bodily shape to change. |
| 1974 Country Life 3 Oct. 980/2 Natural wolf three-quarter length jacket worn with a *wolf hat. |
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. Prel., The dark *wolf-haunted woods. |
| 1898 Saga-Bk. Viking Club Jan. 35 Two *wolf-headed serpents. |
| 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West II. 12, I was on a *wolf-hunt by moonlight. |
| 1841 Ir. Penny Jrnl. 8 May 355 He took the spear from the *wolf-hunter's hand. |
| 1690 Temple Misc. ii. iv. 44 In his *Wolf-Huntings..when he used to be abroad in the Mountains three or four Days together. 1731–2 Norwich Mercury 19–26 Feb. 1/1 The King went a Wolf-hunting. 1841 Ir. Penny Jrnl. 8 May 353 No particular breed of dogs was ever kept for wolf-hunting in this country. |
| 1976 Jrnl. (Newcastle) 26 Nov. (Advt.), Mink coat..also modern *wolf jacket with matching fox hat, both coats new. |
| 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xiv, Galazi asked him if he would..rule with him over the *wolf-kind. |
| Ibid., The desire of this *wolf-life. |
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Manger Louvichement, to eate *Wolfe like. 1593 Queen Elizabeth Boeth. iv. pr. iii. 51 The violent robber of others goodes..swellith in coueting, & [thou] mayst call him woolf lyke, feerce & contentious. 1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrif. (Grosart) 82/2 Our Wolfe-like Appetites. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 513 Will you..wolf-like howl away the midnight hour? 1844 Kinglake Eothen i, Big wolf-like dogs. |
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. ii. (Ireland) 83 Some..doe affirme, that certaine men in this tract are yeerly turned into Wolves [marg. *Wolf⁓men]. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xiv, I have become a wolf-man. For with the wolves I hunt and raven. |
| 1913 Frazer Golden Bough xi. (ed. 3) II. 271 Indians dressed in wolf-skins and wearing *wolf-masks. |
| 1868 Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 489 *Wolf-moved battered shields, O'er poor dead corpses. |
| 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid i. 275 The yellow skin of his [sc. Romulus's] *wolf-nurse. |
| 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 200 On to the fur of the *wolf-pelt that strews the plain. |
| 1892 Rider Haggard Nada xvi, That *wolf⁓people of yours. |
| 1872 Gentl. Mag. Dec. 680 We hear no more of the *wolf-pest till the days of Queen Mary. |
| 1911 A. Lang in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 137/1 The..totem of the *wolf-race of men. |
| 1848 Lytton Harold v. i, Belsta, and Heidr, and Hulla..the *wolf-riders. |
| 1804 Campbell Soldier's Dream 6 The *wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain. |
| 1891 Hardwick's Sci. Gossip 1 Oct. 233/1 The *wolf-shaped Mänagarm. 1883 *wolf-shirt [see wolf-belt]. |
| 1649 C. Wase Sophocles, Electra 1 [Apollo] the *wolf-slaying god. |
| c 1878 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 73 There did storms not mingle?..*wolfsnow, worlds of it, wind there? |
| 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 136 note, In a poem published as late as 1719, and entitled Macdermot,..wolfhunting and *wolfspearing are represented as common sports in Munster. |
| a 1674 Milton Hist. Mosc. i. Wks. 1851 VIII. 431 The Russe of better sort goes..on his Sled..drawn with a horse well deckt; with many Fox or *Wolve-tails about his neck. |
| 1911 J. A. MacCulloch Relig. Anc. Celts xiv. 218 An early *wolf-totem. |
| 1780 Edmondson Her. II. Gloss., *Wolf-Trap is a German bearing. This trap is made of a stick, bent like the head of a pick-ax, and having in the centre a ring, whereto the collar is fixed. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. xxx, If we both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I'll do my best to save you. c 1440 *wolf-whelp [see wolf-den]. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xvi, He was the imprisoned wolf-whelp, which at the first opportunity broke his chain. |
| 1863 W. K. Kelly Curios. Indo-Europ. Tradit. 252 Mention is made of a *wolfwoman in the Mabinogion. |
e. Special
Combs.:
wolf-berry, a N. American shrub,
Symphoricarpus occidentalis, allied to the snowberry;
wolf call colloq. (
orig. U.S.)
= wolf-whistle;
† wolf-claw = wolf's-claw (see f);
wolf-cry [
f. vbl. phr. to cry ‘
wolf’: see 10 a]
= false alarm s.v. false a. 14 c;
wolf cub, (
a) a young wolf; (
b)
= cub n.1 2 c; also
fig.;
wolf-drum, a drum with head made of wolfskin;
† wolf-fly, a kind of large fly which preys upon other insects;
wolf-greyhound, a greyhound used in hunting wolves;
† Wolfland, a former nickname for Ireland;
wolf-madness, a form of mania in which a man imagines himself to be a wolf (
= lycanthropy 1);
wolf-moth (see
quot., and
cf. 3 d);
wolf-net = 8 b;
wolf-note = 9 b;
wolf pack, a number of wolves naturally associating as a group,
esp. for hunting; also
fig.,
esp. denoting an attacking group of German submarines in the war of 1939–45;
wolf pen U.S., a strong box made of logs used for trapping wolves;
wolf-platform Archæol., a hill-side embankment in the form of a platform, suggested to have been used as a means of defence against the wolves of the lowlands;
† wolf-sheep, a tribute of a sheep paid by a tenant for protection against wolves;
wolf-spear, a wolf-hunter's spear;
wolf-spider, a spider of the family
Lycosidæ, which hunts after and springs upon its prey;
wolf-stone (
cf. dog-stone);
† wolf-thistle = wolf's-thistle (see f);
wolf-tick, a tick of the genus
Ixodes infesting wolves and dogs;
wolf-tooth = wolf's-tooth (see f);
wolf tree, a tree that is occupying more space than has been allowed for it, so restricting the growth of its neighbours (
cf. sense 4 above;)
wolf-willow Canada, any of several shrubs,
esp. Elæagnus commutata, which has silver-grey foliage. See also
wolf-dog etc.
| 1834 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gard. III. 451 *Wolf-berry. |
| 1948 Time 27 Sept. 12/1 Grins, whistles, *wolf-calls..followed her in this exclusively male territory. 1958 Spectator 6 June 726/3 The streets are lined by groups of lounging youths watching the girls go by (but no whistles or wolf-calls). |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. clvii. 1374 *Woolfe claw Mosse. |
| 1915 W. J. Locke Jaffery xxii. 315, I have a habit of losing things and setting the household in frantic search,..only to discover that I have had the wretched object in my pocket all the time. So accustomed is Barbara to this *wolf-cry that if I came up to her without my head and informed her that I had lost it, she would be profoundly sceptical. 1980 Listener 9 Oct. 462/3 The news that the Met season might have to be cancelled..is an annual threat, a wolf-cry. |
| 1817 Scott Harold i. viii, A she-wolf, and her *wolf-cubs twain. 1860 G. H. K. Vac. Tour. 130 Five or six active wolf-cubs. 1916 R. Baden-Powell in Wolf Cub Dec. 2/1 Hullo, Wolf Cubs! What swells you are to have a newspaper all to yourselves! 1963 H. Wilson in Times 8 May 6/3 If we had to face a really dedicated and trained spy, not an overgrown wolf cub who had gone wrong, then the system would have been wide open in respect of security. 1981 E. Longford Queen Mother ii. 35 (caption) Wellington: the Duchess of York inspects a pack of wolf cubs. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 107 At the sound of *Wolf-Drum's rattling thunder Th'affrighted Sheep-skin-Drum doth rent in sunder. |
| 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Insectes 934 The first..called in Latine, Lupus, in English, the *Wolf fly{ddd}feeds especially upon flies, if he cannot come by these he preys upon other Insects. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Lupus. 1829 Glover's Hist. Derby I. 177 Asilus, Wolf Fly. |
| 1825 Scott Talism. vi, Three alans, as they were then called (*wolf-greyhounds, that is) of the largest size. |
| 1692 Advice to Painter 20 A chilling Damp, And *Wolfe-land Howl, run thro' the rising Camp. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 136 note, In William's reign Ireland was sometimes called by the nick⁓name of Wolf land. |
| 1662 Bayfield Treat de Morb. 49 Lupina insania, *Wolf-madness. 1854 Jrnl. Mental Sci. 52 Lycanthropy or Wolfmadness. |
| 1863 Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 544 Another species.., popularly called the *Wolf-moth (Tinea granella),..haunts granaries and malthouses, and does great damage by feeding on the grains and fastening them together with its silken web. |
| 1819 Rees Cycl., *Wolf-Net,..a kind of net used in fishing, which takes great numbers, and has its name from the destruction it causes. |
| 1915 Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. XVIII. 85 On all stringed instruments of the violin type a certain pitch can be found which it is difficult..to produce by bowing. This note is called the ‘*wolf-note’. |
| 1895 Sir H. Maxwell Duke of Britain viii. 105 Supposing the *wolf-pack over⁓whelmed you. 1941 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 9 July–30 Sept. 270/1 The U-boat is now being used as a unit in a flotilla... We had a hint of it a year ago when the Berlin bulletins talked about ‘wolf pack’ attacks on convoys. 1951 W. Stevens Let. 2 Oct. (1967) 731 There is probably a sort of wolf-pack that follows him [sc. Hermann Hesse] round. His idea of throwing out a poem or two to slow them up and invite them to devour each other sounds almost like folklore. 1977 Time 26 Sept. 9/2 What Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof spawned as a small wolf pack of urban guerrillas has now become a scattered army of vicious malcontents, bent on destroying the society around them. 1980 ‘D. Grant’ Emerald Decision vi. 129 They were headed for the perilous North Channel..if they survived the wolfpacks. |
| 1647 in Watertown (Mass.) Rec. (1894) I. i. 12 The Towne gaue: to John Witherll: there Right in the palisado that inclosed the *woulfe pen. 1876 J. S. Ingram Centennial Expedition 106 The places of interest are..the Aviary, the Fox Pens, the Wolf-Pens. |
| 1906 Cornh. Mag. May 615 At [the] base [of the hill] the great *wolf platforms would be set in a position where a conflict might be carried on without stampeding the herds in the camp above. |
| 1528 in Archaeologia LIII. 381 He hath yerely..one shepe of the best instede of a tolle called the *wolfe shepe, for the which..he ys bownde to hunt the wolfe. |
| 1823 Mrs. Hemans Siege of Valencia vi. Cid's Battle Song, That her sons..may..sharpen the point of the red *wolf-spear. |
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 270 One kind of Autumnall Lupi, or *Wolfe-Spyder. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Lupus. 1863 Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 656 The Lycosidæ, or Wolf-spiders,..take their prey in fair chase instead of catching it in nets. Ibid. 657 About sixteen or seventeen British species of Wolf-spider are already known. |
| 1640 in Entick London (1766) II. 181 For a dog-stone, 2.6. For a *wolf-stone, 2.0. |
| 1525 Grete Herbal cxxii. (1529) H ij, De cameleonta. *Wolfe thystle. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 683 Wolfthistle. |
| 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. vi. iv. 302 The Ticks, or Ixodes... In France the two principal species are—1, the *Wolf Tick; 2, Reticulated Tick. |
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., *Wolf-Tooth. |
| 1928 R. S. Troup Silvicultural Systems xix. 187 The stands..were kept fairly dense in order to promote clean stems, congested thickets being thinned and *wolf-trees removed. 1966 D. Waters Forestry xviii. 94 Wolf trees are large mis-shapen trees which do not provide good timber. |
| 1889 J. G. Donkin Trooper & Redskin 86 The luscious perfume of *wolf-willow and wild rose..come scampering on the western breeze. 1948 A. L. Rand Mammals Eastern Rockies 90 Wolf-willow clumps, gopher holes, odd stones, aspen bluffs. 1974 M. Laurence Diviners 357 There were these thin prairie maples and the wolf willow. |
f. Combinations with genitive, as
wolf's-hide (
attrib.):
wolf's-claw, a name for club-moss (
= lycopodium 1);
wolf's-foot,
† (
a) ? the sea-wolf,
Anarrichas lupus; (
b)
= wolf's-claw;
† wolf's-thistle, a species of carline thistle,
Carlina acaulis;
wolf's-tooth,
Farriery [
cf. MHG. wolfzan, G.
wolfszahn] (see
quots.);
† wolf's-wort = wolf-wort a. See also
wolf's-bane, etc.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. lxxi. 412 The fifth kinde of Mosse, called *Wolfes clawe. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Lycopodium, The common wolf's claw moss. 1861 S. Thomson Wild Fl. iii. (ed. 4) 289 The..common club-moss, or wolf's-claw, or ‘stag's-horn.’ |
| 1443 in Bekynton's Corr. (Rolls) II. 238 Chattok dedit piscem vocatum Pedulupum aut *Wolfes-foote al. Luperius. 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. clvii. 1374 Called..in English Woolfes foote, or Woolfes clawe, and likewise Club Mosse. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn vi, Crowd close, little snipes, among the cup-moss and wolf's foot. |
| 1866 Lytton Lost Tales Miletus 125 A *wolf's-hide mantle for his robe of state. |
| a 1400–50 Stockh. Med. MS. 179 *Wolfys thystyl: camalion. 1597 Gerarde Herbal Suppl., Wooluisthistle is Chamæleon. |
| 1565–6 Blundevil Horsemanship iv. xlvi. (1580) 19 b, A horse..hauing two extraordinarie teeth called the *Woolfes teeth, which be two little teeth growing in the vpper iawes, next vnto the great grinding teeth. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1756) I. 323 A Horse is said to have Wolves-Teeth, when his Teeth grow either Outwards or Inwards so that their Points prick and wound either the Tongue, or Gum when he eats. 1864 E. Mayhew Illustr. Horse Management 146 At one year old,..frequently at birth, little nodules of bone, without fangs, merely attached to the gums, appear in front of each row of grinders. These are vulgarly denominated ‘Wolves' Teeth’. |
| 1575 Banister Chyrurg. 95 Aconitum *woulfes wort. |
Hence
ˈwolfdom, the realm or domain of wolves, wolves collectively;
ˈwolfhood, the state or condition of being a wolf;
ˈwolfkin, a young wolf;
ˈwolfless a., free from wolves;
ˈwolflessness nonce-wd. [
cf. 6 a], the state of ‘not having the wolf at the door’,
i.e. being free of poverty.
| 1851 Sun 21 Jan. 3/2 Before the House of Hanover or Stuart,..Alfred or Boadicea, *Wolfdom was, and is and is to be. |
| 1889 J. Jacobs Fables of æsop I. 209 To him cunning was foxiness,..cruelty, *wolfhood. |
| 1706 S. Centlivre Basset-Table v. 59 Oh! thou *Wolfkin instead of Lambkin. 1864 Tennyson Boadicea 15 Make the carcase a skeleton;..wolf and wolfkin, from the wilderness, wallow in it. |
| 1893 L. Stephen in Contemp. Rev. Aug. 160 The sheep of a *wolfless region. |
| 1928 D. H. Lawrence Rawdon's Roof 26 The perfect *wolflessness of Rawdon's door, the perfect windlessness of Rawdon's roof. |
▪ II. wolf, v. (
wʊlf)
[f. wolf n.] 1. trans. To eat like a wolf; to devour ravenously.
| 1862 Sala Seven Sons III. xi. 272 [She] used to..wolf her food with her fingers. 1880 Spurgeon Ploughm. Pict. 105 Hungry dogs will wolf down any quantity of meat. 1903 Speaker 24 Jan. 419/1 The men..wolfing up meals of oyster stew in an atmosphere of perpetual dyspepsia. |
2. intr. with
it: To behave like a wolf;
= wolve v. 1. Also without
const.:
cf. wolf n. 5 c.
Occas. trans.| 1865 W. G. Palgrave Arabia I. 126 While 'Obeyd was wolfing it in Kaseem. 1929 World's Work Nov. 40 The college boy (in 1929) knows a smoothie who wolfed on a friend and creamed his lady. 1934 G. & S. Lorimer Stag Line vii. 232 No matter how I feel, I wouldn't wolf a brother's girl. 1940 J. O'Hara Pal Joey 186, I give with the vocals and wolf around in a nite club. |
3. trans. To delude with false alarms:
cf. prec. 9 a.
| 1910 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 55 Those whose interest it was to wolf the credulous public out of their pence. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 4 The dwellers in the blinking hole, having been wolfed several times, are sceptical. |
4. trans. U.S. Blacks. (See
quots. and
cf. woofing
vbl. n.)
Occas. intr. with
at.
| 1966 Urban Education II. ii. 108 Wolf, to make fun of someone. 1969 Sports Illustr. 3 Nov. 36/2, I turned round and started wolfing at the guy, and he just strolled off. 1971 E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 199 Wolf v., criticize; chop down. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens iv. 172 Wolf, wolf'n, woof, woofin, wolf ticket, can mean anything from making fun of someone to challenging someone to a fight, a powerful person. 1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. (Detroit Suppl.) 8/3 ‘C'mon, man,’ they tell Balls, backing down, ‘we was just wolfin' ya. We gotta be careful who we sell to.’ |