wolfn.
/wʊlf/, U.S. /wʊlf/ 1.
a. A somewhat large canine animal ( Canis lupus) found in Europe, Asia, and North 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 n. at prairie n. Compounds 2, timber-wolf n. at timber n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf)
wolfc725
greyOE
Isegrima1300
grey wolf1595
lupus?a1600
witch's horse1865
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) > large or fierce
wolfc725
werewolfa1425
war-wolf1610
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) L 332 Lupus, wulf.
c1000 Be manna wyrdum (Gr.) 12 Sceal hine wulf etan, har hæðstapa.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10631 Þenne comeð þe wlf [c1300 Otho wolf] wilde.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 5774 King edgar..het þat he him sende ech ȝer..Þre þousend of wolues in name of truage.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 1228 Lyons, libardes and wolwes kene.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. x. 207 Wandren as wolues, and wasten ȝif þei mouwen.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 3446 The wolfes in the wode, and the whilde bestes.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 16/2 I sought the, to thende that of the vulues ne of the euyll bestes thou were not eten ne all to torne.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 246 Throw hiddowis ȝowling of the wowf [rhyme growf].
1516 Kalendre Newe Legende Eng. (Pynson) 5 b Two wood wulphes.
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. I.vii Etine with vowis lions and oder bestis.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) viii. 58 The beiris lyons, voluis, foxis, and dogis.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Wolfes denne, lupanarium.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 753 The laps or fillets of a Wolues Liuer.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) i. i. 243 The trembling Lambe, inuironned with Wolues . View more context for this quotation
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia ii. 27 The Woolues [are] not much bigger then our English Foxes.
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ iii. xxxviii. 120 Two huge Woolfs.
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life (1976) 46 The wolves,..Of which wee found two sorts: The Mastiffe woolfe thick and short..; The Greyhound woolfe long and swift.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 484 The Wolve's Portion, or the Vulture's Prey.
1726 J. Thomson Winter (ed. 2) 45 Assembling Wolves, in torrent Troops, descend.
1730 A. Ramsay Condemned Ass in Fables & Tales 7 The wowf and tod.
1804 W. Clark Jrnl. 8 Sept. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1987) III. 55 I saw Greid many Buffalow & white wolves.
1855 H. W. Longfellow Hiawatha xv. 200 The wolves howled from the prairies.
1858 W. 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 St. G. Mivart Dogs, Jackals, Wolves, & Foxes 6 The size and proportions of the Wolf roughly resemble those of a large mastiff.
1891 W. H. Flower & R. Lydekker Introd. Study 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.
ΚΠ
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 16 Heonu ic sendo iuih suæ scip in middum vel inmong uulfa.
a1225 Leg. Kath. 31 [He] Bigon anan ase wed wulf to weorrin hali chirche.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 774 Corineus heom rasde to swa þe rimie wulf [c1300 Otho wolf].
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 5680 No licchere is broþer him nas þane wolf is a lomb.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 4047 Al so wolf þe schip gan driue, Arthour smot hem after swiþe.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10207 He fore with his fos in his felle angur, As a wolfe in his wodenes with wethurs in fold.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 14 The reularis in the middis of it ar lyke woulfis rauisching thair pray.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xi. 84 Hog in sloth, Fox in stealth, Woolfe in greedines. View more context for this quotation
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc i. 176 Unhappy France! Fiercer than evening wolves thy bitter foes Rush o'er the land.
1815 Ld. Byron Destr. Sennacherib 1 The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold.
1860 All Year Round 7 July 307 I'm as hungry as a wolf; run, or I shall eat thee!
c. The skin or fur of the animal. (Chiefly attributive: see sense Compounds 1 below.)
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of wolf
wolfskina1425
wolf1805
snow-wolf1910
1805 M. Lewis Jrnl. 20 Aug. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1988) V. 126 I have also observed some robes among them of beaver, moonax, and small wolves.
1876 G. B. Goode Classif. Coll. Illustr. Animal Resources U.S. 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 [see wolf hat n. at Compounds 1d]. 2.
a. A figure or representation of a wolf.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) > representation of
wolf1562
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > representation in art > [noun] > an artistic representation > of living thing > animal > specific
white horse1273
lintworm1423
serpentinec1440
horsec1540
wolf1562
whelk?1578
snake1579
snake-head1865
singerie1920
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory 97 b The fielde is Azure, a wolfe Saliaunte, Argent.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xv. 145 Hee beareth Gules, two Wolues passant, Argent.
1727 C. Colden Hist. Five Indian 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. A. Demmin Weapons of War 548 Another very usual [armourers'] mark is a wolf.
1885 E. Castle Schools & Masters of Fence Pl. I Grooved single-edged blade, with ‘wolf’ or ‘fox’ mark.
b. Astronomy. The constellation Lupus (lupus n. 2).
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the world > the universe > constellation > Southern constellations > [noun] > Lupus
wolf1556
lupus1706
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. iv. 270 This Centaure with his righte hande dooth holde a Wolfe, whiche is a seuerall constellation made of 19 starres.
1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin 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.† c. = wolf-spider n. at Compounds 5: see Compounds 5. Obsolete.
a. (a) In South Africa, a hyena: see also aardwolf n., strand-wolf n. at strand n.1 Compounds 3, tiger-wolf n. at tiger n. Compounds 2a. (b) A Tasmanian marsupial, Thylacinus cynocephalus: see also zebra wolf n. at zebra n. Compounds 2b. Frequently as Tasmanian wolf; = thylacine n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Carnivora > [noun] > family Hyaenidae (hyena) > genus Crocuta (spotted hyaena)
tiger-wolf1731
wolf1815
pied hyena1865
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Dasyuridae > subfamily Thylacinae (thylacine)
zebra opossum1808
zebra wolf1808
tiger1829
hyena1832
thylacine1838
wolf1891
1595 T. Johnson Cornucopiæ sig. B4 A certaine Wolfe called Hyena.]
1815 A. Plumptre tr. H. Lichtenstein Trav. S. Afr. II. 15 The spotted hyena, hyæna crocuta, is here called simply the wolf.
1891 Guide Zool. Gard., Melbourne In this cage are two marsupial wolves, Thylacinus cynocephalus, or Tasmanian tigers as they are commonly called.
1908 H. R. 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 Greek λύκος, Latin lupus): see also sea-wolf n. 2, river wolf n.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Esocidae (pikes) > [noun] > esox lucius (true pike)
hakedeOE
pike1314
ged1324
water wolfa1398
luce14..
pike fish1494
lucetc1550
wolf1555
lucern1615
river wolf1655
jack fish1659
luscio1680
lupus1706
pickerel1709
esox1774
fresh-water shark1799
pickering1842
northern1950
1555 R. Eden Disc. Vyage rounde Worlde in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 218v Woolues of the sea which sum thynke to bee those fysshes that wee caule pikes.
1569 T. Blague Schole of Wise 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 R. Brathwait Strange Metamorphosis sig. C3 The Pike..is called the Wolfe of the water.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler vii. 144 Pikes..called the Tyrant of the Rivers, or the Freshwater-wolf, by reason of his bold, greedy, devouring disposition. View more context for this quotation
1811 P. Neill in Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. 1 539 T[rigla] 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.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > member of family Lycosidae
wolf1608
wolf-spider1608
hunter1658
hunting spider1665
hunter-spider1867
1608 E. Topsell Hist. 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.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tineidae > tinea granella (grain-moth)
wolf1682
corn-moth1766
fly-weevil1789
grain-moth1842
wolf-moth1863
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva > defined by parasitism or feeding > destructive
wolf1682
1682 tr. J. Goedaert Of Insects 65 Live Wormes, which our Dutch Boors call Woolves.
1694 A. van Leeuwenhoek in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 18 194 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 made Easy (ed. 2) 223.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. I. ii. 33 Leeuwenhoek's wolf (Tinea granella).
4. = wolf tree n. at Compounds 5 below.
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the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > cultivated or valued > [noun] > not valued > weed or wolf tree
weed1697
wolf tree1928
wolf1949
1949 Q. Jrnl. Forestry 43 127 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. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 96 Mon is wulf oðer liun. oðer unicorne.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10636 Ich am wulf [c1300 Otho wolf] & he is gat.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 20935 Paul..Eftirward bicom prechure, Schepe of wlue, meke of felle.c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 515 [A priest] kepte wel his foolde So þt the wolf ne maade it noght myscarye.c1450 Cov. Myst. vii. 102 From þe wulf to saue al shepe of his flok.a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. A.v The wolfe from the dore To wary and to kepe From theyr goostly shepe. 1577 [see sense 10j]. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iv. sig. Oo2 Since such a slye wolfe was entred among them, that could make iustice the cloake of tirannye.1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 23 in Justa Edouardo King Besides what the grimme wolf with privy paw Daily devoures apace.1722 S. Croxall tr. Æsop Fables xlii. 79 If Wolves sometimes creep into the Church in Sheep's Cloathing.1781 W. Cowper Charity 287 Let just restraint..Chain up the wolves and tigers of mankind.1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess ii. 32 Why who are these? a wolf within the fold! A pack of wolves!1860 R. W. Emerson Fate in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 27 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 n.) Obsolete.
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 frequently, in allusion to certain biblical passages (e.g. Matthew vii. 15, Acts xx. 29), to enemies or persecutors attacking the ‘flocks’ of the faithful.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > savage person > [noun]
wolfa900
liona1225
beastc1225
wild manc1290
tiger?a1513
Turk1536
club-fist1575
scourgemutton1581
wolver1593
vulture1605
savage1609
inhuman1653
brutal1655
Tartar1669
hyena1671
dragoon1712
Huna1744
panther1822
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > [noun] > person or being
wolfa900
liona1225
wild manc1290
boar1297
fell1340
tiger?a1513
centaur1565
wolver1593
to speak bandog and Bedlam1600
vulture1605
killbuck1612
man-tigera1652
Tartar1669
hyena1671
dragoon1712
vampire1741
Huna1744
panther1868
the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun] > servant of
wolfa900
sergeanta1513
antichristian1531
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [noun] > person
wolfa900
cruelc1420
Turk1536
scourgemutton1581
savage1609
hell-kitea1616
a900 Old Eng. Martyrol. 24 Jan. 30 Þu eart deofles wulf.
OE Crist I 256 Hafað se awyrgda wulf tostenced, deor dædscua, dryhten, þin eowde, wide towrecene.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 149 Woluys of helle stranglen hem.
c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋694 As seith seint Augustyn, they been the deueles wolues that stranglen the sheepe of Ihesu crist.
c1450 Godstow Reg. 18 (Kalendar, June) Cyryce and Iulytte, kepe us fro þe wulfe.
1497 J. Alcock Mons Perfeccionis (de Worde) A iij It putteth from us the wulf the deuyll deuourer of mannes soule.
1577 T. Kendall tr. Politianus et al. Flowers of Epigrammes f. 43 The feend the woulfe of hell.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > [noun] > wicked creature
hellhoundOE
wolf?1554
devil dog1642
hellicat1816
shaitan1834
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vi. 470 To hunt hym out of the land, With hund and horn, rycht as he were A volf [1489 Adv. woulff].]
?1554 W. Turner (title) The Huntyng of the Romyshe Vuolfe.
1606 T. Dekker Seuen Deadly Sinnes London i. sig. C1 Hunt these English Wolues to death.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) ii. iv. 13 Nay Warwicke, single out some other Chace, For I my selfe will hunt this Wolfe to death.
a1638 R. Brownlow Rep. Diverse Cases: 2nd Pt. (1651) 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; (b) originally U.S., a homosexual man who adopts an active role with a partner.Occasionally applied to a woman: see quot. 1968 at wolfess n. 2.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male > who takes on a more dominant or active role
wolf1847
steamer1932
butch1963
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > loss of chastity > [noun] > seduction > seducer
seducera1616
woman-killer1654
cousin1694
betrayer1766
ladykiller1769
Lovelace1773
Don Juan1847
wolf1847
Casanova1928
homme fatal1935
(a)
(b)1917 New Republic 13 Jan. 293/2 The sodomist, the degenerate, the homosexual wolf.1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route xiv. 161 Whenever a man travels around with a lad he is apt to be labeled a ‘jocker’ or a ‘wolf’.1950 H. Patterson & E. 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.1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity 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. Halliburton's Troubles 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 New Yorker 14 Sept. 129 A wolf was bugging me, so I..karated him, and called the fuzz.
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.
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).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devouring (of fire, etc.) > that which devours (of fire, insects, etc.)
devouress1382
devourerc1385
wolfc1470
sarcophagus1619
consumingness1659
corroder1697
c1470 J. Hardyng 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 H. Braham Inst. Gentleman sig. Gij This manne can litle skyl..to saue himself harmlesse from the perilous accidentes of this world, keping ye wulf from the doore (as they cal it).
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ vi. lx. 90 That he or she should have wherwith to support both,..at least to keep the Woolf from the door, otherwise 'twere a meer madnes to marry.
1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned (1713) i. ii. 31 That hungry Wolf, want and necessity, which now stands at his door.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 75/1 Poets call the Earth..the Woolf of the Gods, because it devours and consumes every thing.
a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) II. v. 176 Business began to flag, and the most I could do was to keep the Wolf from the Door.
1858 [see sense 10a]. 1891 H. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > [noun] > greediness or voracity
yevernesseOE
greediness1426
wantonness1448
voracity1526
ravenousness1564
gulf1566
wolf1576
swallow1592
canine appetite1609
ravenage1673
polyphagia1693
voraciousness1710
hyperphagia1941
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health ii. f. 66v The water cureth that sore feeding, which most men name the Wolfe.
1607 Merrie Iests George Peele 28 Hauing as villanous a wolfe in his belly as George.
1693 Humours & Conversat. Town 38 There is a monstrous Disease..in Nature, which they..call the Wolf, which makes the distemper'd eat beyond Reason.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward I. x. 261 I know thine appetite is a wolf... Canst thou yet hold out an hour without food?
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. vi. 87 There was no breakfast to lounge over; their lounge was taken in bed, to try..to deaden the gnawing wolf within.
7. † b. = wolf's-tooth n. at Compounds 6b: see Compounds 6. Obsolete.
a. A name for certain malignant or erosive diseases in men and animals (see quots.); esp. = lupus n. 4. Obsolete or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > eruptive diseases > [noun] > lupus
noli me tangerea1398
touch-me-notc1450
wolf1559
lupus1583
lupus erythematosus1852
lupus vulgaris1852
butterfly lupus1879
minimus1886
SLE1958
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 86 Aqua vitae is commodious and profitable..against the disease called the Wulfe.
1572 J. Jones Benefit Bathes of Buckstones f. 16v Frettinge vlceres, wolues in the brest, and many daungerous pustles.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxxix. 228 The disease called the Wolfe, which is a kernell or round bunch of flesh, which groweth..vntill it kill the dogge.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 131 A disease [in cattle] which they call the Woolfe, others, the Tayle [tail n.1 10].
1589 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 225 A poore woman that had a woolfe in her legge.
1684 J. Smith Profit & Pleasure United 207 Wolf, or over-growing of the Flesh.
1684 J. Smith Profit & Pleasure United 208 The Shee-Wolf, or Boyls and Knobs on the Foot [of a horse].
1709 Brit. Apollo 30 Mar.–1 Apr. What is call'd by..Surgeons a Wolf, is a sort of Cancerous Ulcer, more properly so called when in the Legs.
1736 Compl. Family-piece iii. 402 The Disease called the Tail, is by some Farmers called the Wolf.
1796 S. Pegge Anonymiana (1809) 108 The common people usually call a cancer in the breast a Wolf.
1801 Sporting Mag. 17 153 All sorts of cancers, wens, and wolves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > mouth or type of > teeth > next to molars
wolf's-tooth1566
wolf1607
wolf-tooth1753
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice vii. 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. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > engine for seizing ram
wolf1489
war-wolf1610
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes 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 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 150 Nor had they as much as iron Wolves [It. lupi] and Crows to graspe the Ram withall.
b. A kind of fishing-net: also wolf-net (see Compounds 5).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > other nets
Peter netc1280
flue1388
wade1388
stalker1389
shove-net1418
trod-net1523
butt1533
web1533
fagnet1558
seur1558
trimnet1558
trollnet1558
pot-net1584
treat net1584
weir-net1585
hagan1630
henbilt1630
rugnet1630
basket-net1652
landing-net1653
stream-net1662
wolf1725
ram's horn1792
gill net1795
wolf-net1819
trap-net1856
forewheel1861
stow-net1871
lave net1875
kettle-bail1881
beating-net1883
keeve-net1883
net basin1883
wing-neta1884
trap-seine1891
lead-net1910
ghost net1959
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique Wolf, the name of a Net that is a great destroyer of Fish, as well in Rivers as in Ponds.
1847 in J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Wolf, a kind of fishing-net.
c. Textiles. A willow or willy (willy n.1 3). (Cf. German wolf, Swedish vulf.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > separating or cleaning > separating or cleaning with machine > machine
picker1795
wool-mill1819
blowing-machine1835
willow1835
willy1835
twilly1858
blower1867
wilger1871
shake willey1875
wolf1875
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Wolf, a beating or opening machine, for tearing apart the tussocks of cotton as delivered in the bale.
9. Music.
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 German wolf (Arnolt Schlick, Spiegel der Orgelmacher, 1511).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > sound of organ > harsh or unwanted
cipher1779
wolf1788
ciphering1876
run1895
1788 Brit. Patent 1664 (1856) 2 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. Music IV. 188 The G♯ to the E♭, he [sc. Schlick] calls the ‘wolf’, and says it is not used as a dominant chord to cadence C♯.
1889 Hipkins in Grove's Dict. Music IV. 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > sound of stringed instrument > harsh sound
wolf1876
wolf-note1915
1876 in J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms
1884 H. R. Haweis My Musical 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 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 15/2 There's a hantle o' wolfs on my father's strings.
10. Phrases. † d. a hair of the same wolf: cf. dog n.1 Phrases 6.† e. to howl among wolves [= French hurler avec les loups] : to adapt oneself to one's company, though one disapproves of it.† g. to be in the wolf's mouth [compare French à la gueule du loup] : to be in deadly peril.
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!’).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > warn [verb (intransitive)] > raise false alarm
to cry ‘wolf’1858
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 D. M. Mulock Woman's Thoughts about Women 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 S. Baring-Gould Court Royal xxxviii This is Beavis' cry of wolf, is it?
b. to keep the wolf from the door: see 6.
c. to have or hold a wolf by the ears [= Greek τῶν ὠτῶν ἔχειν τὸν λύκον, Latin lupum auribus tenēre] : to be in a precarious situation or predicament (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > be in difficulties or straits > be in a difficult or dangerous situation
to have or hold a wolf by the ears1560
to hang by the eyelids1778
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxv 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 F. Quarles Hist. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun] > a drink of > taken to cure effects of alcoholic drink
a hair of the same wolf1631
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. iii. 4 in Wks. II 'Twas a hot night with some of vs, last night, Iohn: shal we pluck a hayre o' the same Wolfe, to day?
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > direct one's conduct by a rule [verb (intransitive)] > conform > though with disapproval
to howl among wolves1578
1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis vi. 181 This diuelishe prouerbe..we must howle among the Wolues.
1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions iii. iii. 246 What do you howling amongst Wolves, if you be not one?
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 Matthew vii. 15).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [noun] > one who dissembles
a wolf in a lamb's skin, in sheep's clothingc1460
figurea1513
seemera1616
fop1755
mutton dressed as lamb1811
comedian1893
faux bonhomme1916
c1400 Rom. Rose 6260 Who-so toke a wethers skin, And wrapped a gredy wolf therin.]
c1460 Wisdom 490 in Macro Plays 51 Ther ys a wolffe in a lombys skyn.
1533 T. More Debellacyon Salem & Bizance ii. xvi. f. lxxxvii He wyl play the woulfe in a lambes skynne.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) i. iv. 54 Thou Wolfe in Sheepes array. View more context for this quotation
1718 J. Breval Play is Plot i. i. 9 Mercy o' me! what have we here then? a Wolf in Sheep's cloathing?
1722 [see sense 5a]. 1858 A. Trollope Three Clerks I. xiv. 302 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?
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > face danger [verb (intransitive)] > be in danger
to be in the wolf's mouth1338
perila1612
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 42 Þan was Eilred in þe wolfes mouth.
h. to see or have seen a wolf [= Greek λύκον ἰδεῖν, etc.] : to be tongue-tied (from the old belief that a man on seeing a wolf lost his voice).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > be silent/refrain from speaking [verb (intransitive)] > be temporarily deprived of speech
stickc1380
to see or have seen a wolf1575
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. xv. 100 Yf a wulf and a man see that one other fro ferre, he that is first seen becometh anon aferd.
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory 98. ]
1575 A. Fleming tr. Virgil Bucolics ix. 29 Mœris holdes his tounge, The wolfe hath spide out Mœris fyrst.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 43 My Voice grows hoarse; I feel the Notes decay, As if the Wolves had seen me first to Day.
1767 F. Fawkes tr. Theocritus Idylliums xiv. 30 ‘What are you mute?’ I said—a waggish guest, ‘Perhaps she's seen a Wolf,’ rejoin'd in jest.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward II. viii. 176 Our young champion has seen a wolf..and he has lost his tongue in consequence.
i. to wake a sleeping wolf: to invite trouble or disturbance (cf. dog n.1 Phrases 4).
ΚΠ
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 155 Since all is well, keepe it so, wake not a sleeping wolfe. View more context for this quotation
j. In various proverbial expressions.
ΚΠ
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 3064 A fflye folweþ the honye; Þe wolf, careyn.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (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 J. Woolton Castell of Christians sig. Biiij Lyons..doo not one encounter another, the Serpent stingeth no Serpent: but Man is a Woolfe to Man.
1643 J. Taylor Let. sent to London 6 It is a hard world when one Wolfe eates another.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. Y 67 You have given the Wolf the Wedder to keep.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 103 I mourn the pride And av'rice that make man a wolf to man.
1872 R. Browning Fifine ix If hunger, proverbs say, allures the wolf from wood.
k. to throw to the wolves: to sacrifice (a subordinate, friend, ally, etc.) to one's enemies in order to save oneself.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > betrayal > betray [verb (transitive)] > in order to save oneself
to throw to the wolves1927
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.
l. lone wolf: see lone adj. 3c.
Compounds
C1.
a. Simple attributive.
wolf bark n.
ΚΠ
1845 R. W. Hamilton Inst. Pop. Educ. ix. 251 Was that the wolf-bark of the Corsican dynasty?
wolf bite n.
ΚΠ
1873 Fayrer Clin. Observ. India 261 Wolf Bite of the Forearm.
wolf chase n.
ΚΠ
1824 in Coll. Missouri Hist. Soc. (1928) VI. 75 Had a wolfe chase.
1834 C. F. Hoffman Let. 13 Jan. in Winter in West (1835) I. 247 That most exciting of sports, a wolf-chase on horseback.
wolf den n.
ΚΠ
c1440 Alphabet of Tales 307 Þai fand in þe wud a wulfe den & þer was wulfe-whelpis þerin, bod þer dam was away.
wolf eye n.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 420 Her wolfeyes shining.
wolf fur n.
ΚΠ
1883 ‘Ouida’ Wanda I. 15 The little fierce half-naked boy who in frost was wrapped in wolf-fur.
wolf growl n.
ΚΠ
1895 R. Kipling Second Jungle Bk. 223 A deep wolf-growl that silenced the curs.
wolf hair n.
ΚΠ
1865 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Were-wolves v. 59 When the wolf-hair began to break out and his bodily shape to change.
wolf hunt n.
ΚΠ
1834 C. F. Hoffman Let. 12 Feb. in Winter in West (1835) II. 12 I was on a wolf-hunt by moonlight.
wolf kind n.
ΚΠ
1892 H. R. Haggard Nada the Lily xiv Galazi asked him if he would..rule with him over the wolf-kind.
wolf pack n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > a naval force or fleet > [noun] > formations of ships > of submarines
wolf pack1895
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) > pack of
packa1450
wolf pack1895
1895 H. Maxwell Duke of Brit. 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 (Atlantic ed.) 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.
wolf pelt n.
ΚΠ
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (London ed.) 200 On to the fur of the wolf-pelt that strews the plain.
wolf pest n.
ΚΠ
1872 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 680 We hear no more of the wolf-pest till the days of Queen Mary.
wolf snow n.
ΚΠ
c1878 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 73 There did storms not mingle?..wolfsnow, worlds of it, wind there?
wolf tail n.
ΚΠ
a1674 J. Milton Brief Hist. Moscovia (1682) i. 23 The Russe of better sort goes..in his Sled..drawn with a Horse well deckt, with many Fox or Wolve Tayles about his Neck.
wolf track n.
wolf-trap n.
ΚΠ
1642 New Plymouth Laws 70 All the Townes..shall make woolfe Trapps and bayte them and looke unto them dayly.
1780 J. Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry 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 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island vi. xxx. 255 If we both get alive out of this wolf-trap, I'll do my best to save you.
b. Appositive.
wolf ancestry n.
ΚΠ
1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie Venner iii The great cur showed his teeth,—and the devilish instincts of his old wolf-ancestry looked out of his eyes.
wolf bitch n.
ΚΠ
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) vi When þe wolfe bycche hath hir whelpes.
1820 W. Scott Abbot II. iv. 130 He who speaks irreverently of the Holy Father..is the cub of a heretic wolf-bitch.
wolf burd n. (= offspring).
ΚΠ
1827 W. Scott Highland Widow in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. xii. 257 There shall never be..dirge played, for thee or thy bloody wolf-burd.
wolf cub n.
wolf dam n.
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 32 Lyke rauening woolfdams vpsoackt and gaunted in hunger.
wolf nurse n.
ΚΠ
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid i, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 84 The yellow skin of his [sc. Romulus's] wolf-nurse.
wolf whelp n.
ΚΠ
c1440Wolf-whelp [see wolf den n. at Compounds 1a].
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward II. vi. 129 He was the imprisoned wolf-whelp, which at the first opportunity broke his chain.
c. In connection with belief in lycanthropy or the association of human beings with wolves.
wolf boy n.
ΚΠ
1857 W. Dalton (title) The Wolf boy of China.
wolf brethren n.
ΚΠ
1892 H. R. Haggard Nada the Lily xiv As yet the Wolf-Brethren and their pack killed no men.
wolf charm n.
ΚΠ
1921 Chambers's Jrnl. July 473/1 The wolf~charms he used.
wolf child n.
ΚΠ
1859 J. Lang Wanderings in India 268 In this district..‘a wolf child,’ as the natives of India express it, was found some years ago.
wolf clan n.
ΚΠ
1890 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough II. iv. 351 The Indians of this part of America are divided into totem clans, of which the Wolf clan is one of the principal.
wolf dance n.
ΚΠ
1908 Sunset Mag. Apr. 566/1 A wolf-dance [by] painted naked savages.
wolf devil n.
ΚΠ
1895 R. Kipling Second Jungle Bk. 70 We will teach them to shelter Wolf-devils!
wolf life n.
ΚΠ
1892 H. R. Haggard Nada the Lily xiv The desire of this wolf-life.
wolf man n.
ΚΠ
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. ii. 83 Some..doe affirme, that certaine men in this tract are yeerely turned into Wolves [margin. Wolf-men].
1892 H. R. Haggard Nada the Lily xiv I have become a wolf-man. For with the wolves I hunt and raven.
wolf mask n.
ΚΠ
1913 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough (ed. 3) II. xi. 271 Indians dressed in wolf-skins and wearing wolf-masks.
wolf people n.
ΚΠ
1892 H. R. Haggard Nada the Lily xvi That wolf~people of yours.
wolf race n.
ΚΠ
1911 A. Lang in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 137/1 The..totem of the wolf-race of men.
wolf totem n.
ΚΠ
1911 J. A. MacCulloch Relig. Anc. Celts xiv. 218 An early wolf-totem.
wolf type n.
wolf woman n.
ΚΠ
1863 W. K. Kelly Curiosities Indo-European Trad. 252 Mention is made of a wolfwoman in the Mabinogion.
d. With reference to the skin or fur of the animal.
wolf-belt n.
ΚΠ
1883 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. III. 1094 Our oldest native notions make the assumption of wolf-shape depend on arraying oneself in a wolf-belt or wolf-shirt.
wolf coat n.
ΚΠ
1977 P. Way Super-Celeste ii. 117 She put on her Siberian wolf coat.
wolf collar n.
ΚΠ
1974 Selfridge Christmas Catal. 14 Leather coat with wolf collar and hamster lining.
wolf hat n.
ΚΠ
1974 Country Life 3 Oct. 980/2 Natural wolf three-quarter length jacket worn with a wolf hat.
wolf jacket n.
ΚΠ
1976 Jrnl. (Newcastle) 26 Nov. (advt.) Mink coat..also modern wolf jacket with matching fox hat, both coats new.
wolf-shirt n.
ΚΠ
1883Wolf-shirt [see wolf-belt n.].
C2. Objective.
wolf-breeding adj.
ΚΠ
1889 W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Oisin 77 Wolf-breeding mountains.
wolf-catcher n.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Louvetier, a Wolfe-catcher.
1644 Early Recs. Portsmouth, R.I. (1901) 33 That the wolfe Catcher shall be payed out of the tresuery.
wolf-hunter n.
ΚΠ
1841 Irish Penny Jrnl. 8 May 355 He took the spear from the wolf-hunter's hand.
wolf-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1690 W. Temple Ess. Poetry 44 in Miscellanea: 2nd Pt. 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 Irish Penny Jrnl. 8 May 353 No particular breed of dogs was ever kept for wolf-hunting in this country.
wolf-rider n.
ΚΠ
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold II. v. i. 13 Belsta, and Heidr, and Hulla..the wolf-riders.
wolf-scaring adj.
ΚΠ
1804 T. Campbell Soldier's Dream 6 The wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain.
wolf-slaying adj.
ΚΠ
1649 C. Wase tr. Sophocles Electra 1 [Apollo] the wolf-slaying god.
wolf-spearing n.
ΚΠ
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 136 (note) In a poem published as late as 1719, and entitled Macdermot,..wolfhunting and wolfspearing are represented as common sports in Munster.
C3. Agentive or instrumental.
wolf-begotten adj.
ΚΠ
1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid Metamorphoses 73 The wolf-begotten Nape.
wolf-haunted adj.
ΚΠ
1865 C. Kingsley Hereward Prel., in Good Words Jan. 5/1 The dark wolf-haunted woods.
wolf-moved adj.
ΚΠ
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise ii. 489 Wolf-moved battered shields, O'er poor dead corpses.
C4. Similative and parasynthetic.
a.
wolf-coloured adj.
ΚΠ
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 135 The largest bird of Paradise..The breast..is black, or wolf-coloured.
1926 Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. Kesshonds [sic] will find many admirers on account of their showy wolf-coloured coats. Some have been exhibited recently as Dutch barge dogs.
wolf-eyed adj.
ΚΠ
1866 Lytton Lost Tales Miletus, Fate Catchas 86 A wolf-eyed rover.
wolf-grey adj.
ΚΠ
1863 S. Baring-Gould Iceland 118 Coarse wolf grey hair.
wolf-headed adj.
ΚΠ
1898 Saga-bk. Viking Club Jan. 35 Two wolf-headed serpents.
wolf-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1891 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip Oct. 233/1 The wolf-shaped Mänagarm.
b.
wolf-like adj. and adv.
ΚΠ
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Manger Louvichement, to eate Wolfe like.
1593 Queen Elizabeth I tr. Boethius De Consolatione Philosophiæ in Queen Elizabeth's Englishings (1899) 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 Sacrifice sig. V8 Our Wolfe-like Appetites.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 513 Will you..wolf-like howl away the midnight hour?
1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen i. 7 Big, wolf-like dogs.
C5. Special combinations. See also wolf-dog n. etc.† wolf-claw n. Obsolete = wolf's-claw n. at Compounds 6b.† wolf-fly n. Obsolete a kind of large fly which preys upon other insects.† Wolfland n. Obsolete a former nickname for Ireland. † wolf-sheep n. Obsolete a tribute of a sheep paid by a tenant for protection against wolves.† wolf-thistle n. Obsolete = wolf's-thistle n. at Compounds 6b.
wolf-berry n. a North American shrub, Symphoricarpus occidentalis, allied to the snowberry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > berry-bush or -tree > [noun] > North American > others
redcurrant1633
wolf-berry1834
Oregon grape1851
black haw1897
1834 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. III. 451 Wolf-berry.
wolf call n. colloquial (originally U.S.) = wolf-whistle n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > other vocal sounds > [noun] > whistling > expressing sexual admiration of woman
wolf-whistle1944
wolf call1948
catcall1956
wolf-whistling1958
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).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > club-moss or moss-like ferns
dwarf cypress1548
heath-cypress1551
pine1551
wolf's-claw1578
club-moss1597
wolf-claw1597
wolf's-foot1597
tree-moss1611
Selagoa1627
cypress-moss1640
mountain moss1688
lycopodium1706
stag's horn (also staghorn) moss1741
walking fern1814
tod-tails1820
Robin Hood's hatband1828
resurrection plant1841
ground-pine1847
forks and knives1853
fir club-moss1855
lycopod1861
Selaginella1865
foxtail1866
stag-head or stag's head moss1869
fir-moss1879
hog-bed1900
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1374 Woolfe claw Mosse.
wolf-cry n. [ < verbal phrase to cry ‘wolf ’: see 10a] = false alarm n. at false adj. 14c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > [noun] > warning arousing the unwary > alarm without cause
false alarm1579
wolf-cry1915
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.
wolf cub n. (a) a young wolf; (b) = cub n.1 2c; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1817 W. Scott Harold i. viii. 18 A she-wolf, and her wolf-cubs twain.
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 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.
wolf-drum n. a drum with head made of wolfskin.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > drum > [noun] > other drums
taborinc1500
swash1533
war-drum1593
wolf-drum1605
saddle drum1617
tombak1662
tom-tom1693
goombay1790
rommelpot1790
rommelpot?1798
water drum1824
pahu1829
tabl1831
tambourin1832
dholuck1837
nagara1839
tree-drum1850
ngoma1860
talking drum1897
pot drum1907
friction drum1909
trap-drum1924
ghoema1934
tamboo1942
tassa1948
steel drum1952
conga drum1955
roto-tom1968
conga1969
Isukuti1972
steel pan1973
syndrum1979
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 331 At the sound of Wolfe-Drums ratling thunder Th'affrighted Sheep-skin-Drum doth rent in sunder.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Brachycera > family Asilidae > member of (hawk, hornet, or robber-fly)
Tenthredo1658
wolf-fly1658
hornet-fly1752
robber fly1869
hawk-fly1883
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 934 The first..called in Latine, Lupus, in English, the Wolf fly…feeds especially upon flies, if he cannot come by these he preys upon other Insects.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Lupus.
1829 S. Glover Hist. County of Derby I. 177 Asilus, Wolf Fly.
wolf-greyhound n. a greyhound used in hunting wolves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > greyhound > kinds of or used for specific purpose
side lay1575
wolf-greyhound1825
Newmarket greyhound1856
harlequin greyhound1883
snap1896
dog1898
nap1926
1825 W. Scott Talisman vi, in Tales Crusaders III. 142 Three alans, as they were then called, (wolf-greyhounds that is) of the largest size.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > Ireland > [noun]
Western Isle1557
shamrockshire1689
Teagueland1689
Wolfland1692
Green Island1797
Green Isle1812
the (old) sod1812
Paddyland1828
(is)land of saints1888
1692 Advice to Painter 20 A chilling Damp, And Wolfe-land Howl, run thro' the rising Camp.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 136 (note) In William's reign Ireland was sometimes called by the nick~name of Wolf land.
wolf-madness n. a form of mania in which a man imagines himself to be a wolf (= lycanthropy n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > delusion > types of delusion
lycanthropy1584
cynanthropy1594
hob-thrush1658
wolf-madness1663
syphilomania1815
hippanthropy1847
zoanthropy1856
boanthropy1864
megalomania1885
plutomania1890
uranomania1890
micromania1892
delusions of grandeur1909
omnipotence1916
nihilism1927
apophenia1959
apophany1960
sundowner1974
sundowning1978
1663 R. Bayfield Τῆς Ἰατρικῆς Κάρτος xxiii. 49 Lupina insania, Wolf-madness.
1854 Asylum Jrnl. No. 4. 52 Lycanthropy or Wolfmadness.
wolf-moth n. (see quot., and cf. 3d).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tineidae > tinea granella (grain-moth)
wolf1682
corn-moth1766
fly-weevil1789
grain-moth1842
wolf-moth1863
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) 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.
wolf-net n. = 8b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > other nets
Peter netc1280
flue1388
wade1388
stalker1389
shove-net1418
trod-net1523
butt1533
web1533
fagnet1558
seur1558
trimnet1558
trollnet1558
pot-net1584
treat net1584
weir-net1585
hagan1630
henbilt1630
rugnet1630
basket-net1652
landing-net1653
stream-net1662
wolf1725
ram's horn1792
gill net1795
wolf-net1819
trap-net1856
forewheel1861
stow-net1871
lave net1875
kettle-bail1881
beating-net1883
keeve-net1883
net basin1883
wing-neta1884
trap-seine1891
lead-net1910
ghost net1959
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXXVIII Wolf-Net,..a kind of net used in fishing, which takes great numbers, and has its name from the destruction it causes.
wolf-note n. = 9b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > sound of stringed instrument > harsh sound
wolf1876
wolf-note1915
1915 Proc. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 18 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’.
wolf pack n. a number of wolves naturally associating as a group, esp. for hunting; also figurative, esp. denoting an attacking group of German submarines in the war of 1939–45.
wolf pen n. U.S. a strong box made of logs used for trapping wolves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > trap for other animals
wolf pen1647
otter trap1659
marten trap1743
bear trap1771
sable-trap1784
coyote getter1961
1647 Rec. Watertown, Mass. (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 Exposition 106 The places of interest are..the Aviary, the Fox Pens, the Wolf-Pens.
wolf-platform n. Archaeology a hillside embankment in the form of a platform, suggested to have been used as a means of defence against the wolves of the lowlands.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > [noun] > means of protection or defence
hornc825
shieldc1200
warranta1272
bergha1325
armour1340
hedge1340
defencec1350
bucklerc1380
protectiona1382
safety1399
targea1400
suretyc1405
wall1412
pavise?a1439
fencec1440
safeguard?c1500
pale?a1525
waretack1542
muniment1546
shrouda1561
bulwark1577
countermure1581
ward1582
prevention1584
armourya1586
fortificationa1586
securitya1586
penthouse1589
palladium1600
guard1609
subtectacle1609
tutament1609
umbrella1609
bastion1615
screena1616
amulet1621
alexikakon1635
breastwork1643
security1643
protectionary1653
sepiment1660
back1680
shadower1691
aegis1760
inoculation1761
buoya1770
propugnaculum1773
panoply1789
armament1793
fascine1793
protective1827
beaver1838
face shield1842
vaccine1861
zariba1885
wolf-platform1906
firebreak1959
1906 Cornhill 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > payment or service to feudal superior > [noun] > payment for protection > specific
wolf-sheep1528
1528 in Archaeologia 53 381 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.
wolf-spear n. a wolf-hunter's spear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > [noun] > spear
boar-spear1465
otter spear1540
boar-staff1579
hunt-spear1594
wolf-spear1823
1823 F. D. Hemans Siege Valencia vi. 199 That her sons..may..sharpen the point of the red wolf spear.
wolf-spider n. a spider of the family Lycosidæ, which hunts after and springs upon its prey.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > member of family Lycosidae
wolf1608
wolf-spider1608
hunter1658
hunting spider1665
hunter-spider1867
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 270 One kind of Autumnall Lupi, or Wolfe-Spyder.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Lupus.
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 656 The Lycosidæ, or Wolf-spiders,..take their prey in fair chase instead of catching it in nets.
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 657 About sixteen or seventeen British species of Wolf-spider are already known.
wolf-stone n. (cf.dog stone n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [noun] > hard stone > whetstone
whetstone1578
wolf-stone1640
hone1688
Water of Ayr stone1793
novaculite1794
Turkey hone1794
Turkey stone1816
whet-slate1839
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > stone for millstones or grindstones > for millstones
millstone1610
wolf-stone1640
millstone rag1709
1640 Tables Rates & Duties in J. Entick New Hist. London (1766) II. 181 For a dog-stone, 2.6. For a wolf-stone, 2.0.
ΚΠ
1526 Grete Herball cxxi. sig. Hij/1 De cameleonta. Wolfe thystle.
1597 W. Langham Garden of Health 683 Wolfthistle..is good for the liuer.
wolf-tick n. a tick of the genus Ixodes infesting wolves and dogs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > member of (tick) > family Ixodidae > member of genus Ixodes
ricinus1658
bush-tick1856
wolf-tick1861
carrapato1886
scrub tick1891
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. vi. iv. 302 The Ticks, or Ixodes... In France the two principal species are—1, the Wolf Tick; 2, Reticulated Tick.
wolf-tooth n. = wolf's-tooth n. at Compounds 6b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > mouth or type of > teeth > next to molars
wolf's-tooth1566
wolf1607
wolf-tooth1753
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Wolf-Tooth.
wolf tree n. a tree that is occupying more space than has been allowed for it, so restricting the growth of its neighbours (cf. sense 4).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > cultivated or valued > [noun] > not valued > weed or wolf tree
weed1697
wolf tree1928
wolf1949
1928 R. S. Troup Silvicultural Syst. 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.
wolf-willow n. Canadian any of several shrubs, esp. Elæagnus commutata, which has silver-grey foliage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > olive tree > types of > oleasters
oleaster1731
oleaster1824
Russian olive1886
wolf-willow1889
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 E. 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.
C6. Combinations with genitive.
a.
wolf's-hide n. (attributive).
ΚΠ
1866 E. Bulwer-Lytton Lost Tales Miletus 125 A wolf's-hide mantle for his robe of state.
b. † wolf's peach n. Obsolete the tomato.† wolf's-thistle n. Obsolete a species of carline thistle, Carlina acaulis.† wolf's-wort n. Obsolete = wolfwort n. 1. See also wolf's-bane n., etc.
wolf's-claw n. a name for club-moss (= lycopodium n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > club-moss or moss-like ferns
dwarf cypress1548
heath-cypress1551
pine1551
wolf's-claw1578
club-moss1597
wolf-claw1597
wolf's-foot1597
tree-moss1611
Selagoa1627
cypress-moss1640
mountain moss1688
lycopodium1706
stag's horn (also staghorn) moss1741
walking fern1814
tod-tails1820
Robin Hood's hatband1828
resurrection plant1841
ground-pine1847
forks and knives1853
fir club-moss1855
lycopod1861
Selaginella1865
foxtail1866
stag-head or stag's head moss1869
fir-moss1879
hog-bed1900
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. lxxi. 412 The fifth kinde of Mosse, called Wolfes clawe.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Lycopodium The common wolf's claw moss.
1861 S. Thomson Wanderings among Wild Flowers (rev. ed.) iii. 289 The..common club-moss, or wolf's-claw, or ‘stag's-horn.’
wolf's-foot n. †(a) ? the sea-wolf, Anarrichas lupus; (b) = wolf's-claw n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Blennioidei > anarrhicas lupus (wolf-fish)
sea-wolf1390
wolf's-foot1443
wolf-fish1569
swine-fish1598
sea-cat1601
catfish1620
stone-biter1731
rock salmon1831
swine1844
Murray catfish1873
rock eel1969
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > club-moss or moss-like ferns
dwarf cypress1548
heath-cypress1551
pine1551
wolf's-claw1578
club-moss1597
wolf-claw1597
wolf's-foot1597
tree-moss1611
Selagoa1627
cypress-moss1640
mountain moss1688
lycopodium1706
stag's horn (also staghorn) moss1741
walking fern1814
tod-tails1820
Robin Hood's hatband1828
resurrection plant1841
ground-pine1847
forks and knives1853
fir club-moss1855
lycopod1861
Selaginella1865
foxtail1866
stag-head or stag's head moss1869
fir-moss1879
hog-bed1900
1443 in Bekynton's Corr. (Rolls) II. 238 Chattok dedit piscem vocatum Pedulupum aut Wolfes-foote al. Luperius.
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1374 Called..in English Woolfes foote, or Woolfes clawe, and likewise Club Mosse.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn vi Crowd close, little snipes, among the cup-moss and wolf's foot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > fruits as vegetables > [noun] > tomato
love apple1578
tomato1604
wolf's peach1760
pomodoro1842
Jew's ear1883
tom1912
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > fruits as vegetables > tomato
golden apple1578
love apple1578
tomato1604
wolf's peach1760
tommytoe1838
cherry tomato1859
Jew's ear1883
mato1895
Marmande1967
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 322 Peach, Wolf's, Solanum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > thistles
thistlec725
carduea1398
wolf's-thistlea1400
cardoona1425
wolf-thistle1526
cotton-thistle1548
gum-thistle1548
oat thistle1548
black chameleon1551
ixia1551
Saint Mary thistle1552
milk thistle1562
cow-thistle1565
bedeguar1578
carline1578
silver thistle1578
white chameleon1578
globe thistle1582
ball thistle1597
down thistle1597
friar's crown1597
lady's thistle1597
gummy thistle1598
man's blood1601
musk thistle1633
melancholy thistle1653
Scotch thistle1660
boar-thistle1714
spear- thistle1753
gentle thistle1760
woolly thistle1760
wool-thistle1769
bur-thistlea1796
Canada thistle1796
pine thistle1807
plume thistle1814
melancholy plume thistle1825
woolly-headed thistle1843
dog thistle1845
dwarf thistle1846
welted thistle1846
pixie glove1858
Mexican thistle1866
Syrian thistle1866
bull thistle1878
fish belly1878
fish-bone-thistle1882
green thistle1882
herringbone thistle1884
Californian thistle1891
winged thistle1915
fish-thistles-
a1400–50 Stockh. Med. MS 179 Wolfys thystyl: camalion.
1597 J. Gerard Herball App. Wooluisthistle is Chamæleon.
wolf's-tooth n. [compare Middle High German wolfzan, German wolfszahn] Farriery (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > mouth or type of > teeth > next to molars
wolf's-tooth1566
wolf1607
wolf-tooth1753
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. xlvi. f. 30v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe A horse..hauing two extraordinary teeth, called the Woolfes teeth, which be two little teeth growing in the vpper Jawes, nexte vnto the great grinding teeth.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xl. 550 A Horse is said to have Wolve's-Teeth, when his Teeth grow either Outwards or Inwards so, that their Points prick and wound either the Tongue or Gums when he eats.
1864 E. Mayhew Illustr. Horse Managem. 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’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > [noun] > aconite or wolf's bane
monk's cowl1548
wolf's-bane1548
flint-wort1567
libardine1567
aconite1569
wolf's-wort1575
napellus1576
monkshood1578
napelo1580
helmet-flower1597
scorpion1601
napell1605
wolfwort1611
monk's-head1682
panther's bane1712
blue rocketa1825
bikh1830
friar's cap1830
fox-bane1840
Turk's cap1854
Adam and Eve1879
face-in-hood1886
1575 J. Banister Needefull Treat. Chyrurg. sig. M.vii Aconitum, woulfes wort.
Derivatives
ˈwolfdom n. the realm or domain of wolves, wolves collectively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) > state of being
wolfdom1851
wolfhood1889
1851 Sun 21 Jan. 3/2 Before the House of Hanover or Stuart,..Alfred or Boadicea, Wolfdom was, and is and is to be.
ˈwolfhood n. the state or condition of being a wolf.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) > state of being
wolfdom1851
wolfhood1889
1889 J. Jacobs Fables of Æsop I. 209 To him cunning was foxiness,..cruelty, wolfhood.
ˈwolfkin n. a young wolf.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) > young
whelpc825
wolflinga1400
wolfkin1706
wolveling1798
1706 S. Centlivre Basset-table v. i. 59 Oh! thou Wolfkin instead of Lambkin.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Boadicea 15 Make the carcase a skeleton;..wolf and wolfkin, from the wilderness, wallow in it.
ˈwolfless adj. free from wolves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [adjective] > relating to a wolf > abounding in or free from
wolfish1747
wolfless1893
1893 L. Stephen in Contemp. Rev. Aug. 160 The sheep of a wolfless region.
ˈwolflessness n. [compare 6a] the state of ‘not having the wolf at the door’, i.e. being free of poverty.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1928 D. H. Lawrence Rawdon's Roof 26 The perfect wolflessness of Rawdon's door, the perfect windlessness of Rawdon's roof.
Draft additions March 2009
wolfberry n. any of various shrubs of the genus Lycium; the fruit of any of these plants, esp. the edible bright red fruit of L. barbarum or L. chinense, widely cultivated in China as a health food (also called goji berry).
ΚΠ
1930 W. A. Dayton in Forest Worker 6 14/1 When the need arises for fitting an acceptable English name to an unnamed or untenably named genus or species we have had recourse to..more or less free translation of the Latin or Greco-Latin name (e.g.,..wolfberry for Lycium).
1990 Org. Gardening Nov. 41/2 Some unusual fruits native to the Southwest that don't have to be coddled are western sand cherry, golden currant, wolfberry (Lycium sp.), cactus and creeping mahonia.
2007 Washington Post (Nexis) 16 Feb. t17 Chicken with wolfberry, a small fuchsia fruit that tastes like a cross between a currant and a cranberry.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wolfv.
/wʊlf/, U.S. /wʊlf/ 1. transitive. To eat like a wolf; to devour ravenously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat voraciously
forswallowOE
gulch?c1225
afretea1350
moucha1350
glop1362
gloup1362
forglut1393
worrya1400
globbec1400
forsling1481
slonk1481
franch1519
gull1530
to eat up1535
to swallow up1535
engorge1541
gulp1542
ramp1542
slosh1548
raven1557
slop1575
yolp1579
devour1586
to throw oneself on1592
paunch1599
tire1599
glut1600
batten1604
frample1606
gobbet1607
to make a (also one's) meal on (also upon)a1616
to make a (also one's) meal of1622
gorge1631
demolish1639
gourmanda1657
guttle1685
to gawp up1728
nyam1790
gamp1805
slummock1808
annihilate1815
gollop1823
punish1825
engulf1829
hog1836
scoff1846
brosier1850
to pack away1855
wolf1861
locust1868
wallop1892
guts1934
murder1935
woof1943
pelicana1953
pig1979
1861 G. A. Sala Seven Sons Mammon xxxiii, in Temple Bar Dec. 28 [She] used to..wolf her food with her fingers.
1880 C. H. Spurgeon John Ploughman's Pictures 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. intransitive with it: To behave like a wolf; = wolve v. 1. Also without const.: cf. wolf n. 5c. Occasionally transitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > be fierce [verb (intransitive)]
wolve1702
wolf1865
Zulu1882
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > loss of chastity > fall from chastity (of woman) [verb (intransitive)] > attempt seduction
wolf1934
1865 W. G. Palgrave Narr. Journey through 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. Lorimer & 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. transitive. To delude with false alarms: cf. wolf n. 10a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > warn (a person) of imminent danger or evil [verb (transitive)] > rouse to awareness of danger > delude with false alarms
wolf1910
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > deception by illusion, delusion > deceive, delude [verb (transitive)] > delude with false alarms
wolf1910
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. transitive. U.S. Black English. (See quots. and cf. woofing n. and adj. at woof v.2 Derivatives) Occasionally intransitive with at.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > deride, ridicule, or mock [verb (transitive)]
teleeOE
laughOE
bismerc1000
heascenc1000
hethec1175
scornc1175
hokera1225
betell?c1225
scorn?c1225
forhushc1275
to make scorn at, toc1320
boba1382
bemow1388
lakea1400
bobby14..
triflea1450
japec1450
mock?c1450
mowc1485
to make (a) mock at?a1500
to make mocks at?a1500
scrip?a1513
illude1516
delude1526
deride1530
louta1547
to toy with ——1549–62
flout1551
skirp1568
knack1570
to fart against1574
frump1577
bourd1593
geck?a1600
scout1605
subsannate1606
railly1612
explode1618
subsannea1620
dor1655
monkeya1658
to make an ass of (someone)1680
ridicule1680
banter1682
to run one's rig upon1735
fun1811
to get the run upon1843
play1891
to poke mullock at1901
razz1918
flaunt1923
to get (or give) the razoo1926
to bust (a person's) chops1953
wolf1966
pimp1968
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > jeering, taunting, or scoffing > [verb (transitive)]
heascenc1000
gabc1225
tita1400
knackc1425
scoff1530
flout1551
taunt1560
gird1573
beflout1574
scoff1578
gibe1582
flirt1593
gleek1593
to geck at1603
to gall ata1616
jeera1616
gorea1632
jest1721
fleer1732
chi-hike1874
chip1898
chip1898
to sling off (at)1911
jive1928
sound1958
wolf1966
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.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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