wolf
(wʊlf )
Word forms: wolves , wolfs , wolfing , wolfed
1. countable noun B2
A wolf is a wild animal that looks like a large dog.
Synonyms: womanizer, seducer, Don Juan, Casanova
2. verb
If someone wolfs their food, they eat it all very quickly and greedily. [informal]
I was back in the changing-room wolfing tea and sandwiches. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: devour, stuff, bolt, cram
Wolf down means the same as wolf.
He wolfed down the rest of the biscuit and cheese. [VERB PARTICLE noun]
She bought a hot dog from a stand on a street corner and wolfed it down. [VERB noun PARTICLE]
3. cry wolf phrase
If someone cries wolf, they say that there is a problem when there is not, with the result that people do not believe them when there really is a problem.
4. keep the wolf from the door phrase [VERB inflects]
If you keep the wolf from the door, you succeed in providing food and other necessary things for yourself or your family. [informal]
A lot of the lads took small jobs to help keep the wolf from the door.
Phrasal verbs:
wolf down wolf [sense 2]
Image of wolf
© Max K, Shutterstock
Idioms:
cry wolf
to continually ask for help when it is not needed, or warn about danger when it does not really exist, so that people stop believing you and will not help you when it is really necessary
Knowing when to order an evacuation is crucial. If it is issued too early, the storm could veer off in another direction, then officials could be accused of crying wolf and future orders might not be taken seriously.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
keep the wolf from the door
to provide you with enough money to live on
Your pension will keep the wolf from the door, but for a comfortable old age you need to make maximum use of the financial choices now open to you.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
a lone wolf
someone who is independent and likes doing things on their own, rather than doing them with other people
Among his peers, he is something of a lone wolf.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
a wolf in sheep's clothing
someone who appears harmless or ordinary, but is really very dangerous or powerful
They have tried to present themselves as community politicians but they are wolves in sheeps' clothing.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Translations:
Chinese: 狼
Japanese: オオカミ
- apply a lesson
- apply a mask
- apply a method
- apply an approach
- apply a principle
- apply a skill
- apply a spray
- apply a standard
- apply a technology
- apply a test
- apply a theory
- apply a tourniquet
- apply a voltage
- apply broadly
- apply colour
- apply consistently
- apply criteria
- apply directly
- apply effectively
- apply equally to
- apply evenly
- apply eyeliner
- apply fairly
- apply fertiliser
- apply for a grant