baying

Pluralbayings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A deep, prolonged howl, especially the drawn-out cry given by a hound on the hunt.

   The baying of the pack echoed across the moor as they closed on the fox.

   A mournful baying rose from the kennels at dusk.

   Similarhowling, howl, cry, barking

   Note

   The noun can name one continuous sound or a series of separate cries. In "the distant baying of hounds in full cry" it is a single unbroken noise, while Mark Twain's "distressed bayings of his dogs" (A Tramp Abroad, 1880) counts them. The plural often carries a sense of foreboding, as in the "ill-omened bayings" of All the Year Round in 1885. Use the singular for the general sound, and keep bayings for when the separate cries matter.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of bay.

   The pack was baying wildly as the hunters approached the clearing.

   An angry crowd stood outside, baying for the minister's resignation.

   Note

   A participle with two lives. In "the hounds were baying" it is the verb in progress, and in "their baying kept us awake" it works as a gerund. Used of people, it usually takes for: a mob baying for blood is loudly demanding it. With a direct object it means barking at or hounding something. It has nothing to do with the bay of a coastline or the laurel tree, which are different words spelled alike.

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