caterwaul
/ˈkatəwɔːl
/verb [no object] (often as noun caterwauling)
(Of a cat) make a shrill howling or wailing noise: the caterwauling of a pair of bobcats (as adjective caterwauling) figurative a caterwauling guitar...
- The roofers went up there yelling and screaming and caterwauling in an attempt to get them to go.
- Tielli is best known for his perfect vocal and guitar caterwauling, and for song-writing with the Toronto rock group the Rheostatics.
- ‘Love Hounds’ features rapid-fire, almost spoken verses over guitar caterwauling, and then slides into the disc's catchiest chorus.
Synonyms
howl, wail, bawl, cry, yell, scream, screech, yelp, yowl, squall, whine;
miaow
rare ululate
howl, howling, wail, wailing, screech, screeching, shriek, shrieking, scream, screaming, bawl, bawling, cry, crying, yell, yelling, yelp, yelping, yowl, yowling, squall, squalling, whine, whining, ululating;
miaowing, miaow
noun
A shrill howling or wailing noise.Drunk and angry, he berated the thicknecks while pouring his loudest, most annoying caterwauls over the din of his backing band....
- The drinkers perform a comedic caterwaul while the folk singers create a dissonant background to the absurdity.
- Armed with only an acoustic guitar, My Morning Jacket's frontman falls into the delicate opening strains of ‘Bermuda Highway, ‘his ghostly caterwaul creeping up my spine like a fever.’
Origin
Late Middle English: from cat1 + imitative waul.