# wolf

Pronunciation: say "WUULF" /wʊlf/

## Noun

1. A large wild carnivorous animal of the dog family that hunts in packs, especially the gray wolf (Canis lupus); also any of several related wolf-like species, such as the red wolf.
   - Simple: A large wild animal like a dog that lives and hunts in groups called packs.
   - _A lone wolf wandered down from the mountains in search of food._
   - _Biologists tracked the pack of wolves across the frozen tundra for months._
3. Any extremely greedy, grasping, or destructive person or thing, especially hunger or poverty.
   - Simple: A very greedy or harmful person or thing, especially hunger or being poor.
   - _For years the family struggled to keep the wolf from the door._
   - _When the mill closed, the wolf was at the door again by Christmas._
4. A man who pursues romantic or sexual relationships with many women.
   - Simple: A man who tries to start romantic or sexual relationships with many women.
   - _Her coworkers cautioned her about the office wolf who flirted with every new hire._
   - _Behind the polished manners he was a wolf, and every woman in the firm knew it._

## Verb

2. To eat food very quickly and greedily, swallowing it down in large mouthfuls.
   - Simple: To eat something very fast and in a greedy way.
   - _Hungry after practice, the players wolf their sandwiches in seconds._
   - _He wolfed down the entire plate before anyone else sat down._
5. To pursue many women romantically or sexually; to go around hitting on women. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To chase after many women, trying to date or have sex with them.
6. To hunt wolves, especially as a means of protecting livestock or for sport.
   - Simple: To go out hunting wild wolves, often to protect farm animals.
   - _In the 1880s, some men made a living wolfing for bounties._
   - _The brothers spent that winter wolfing, following tracks through deep snow._

## Noun

7. An ulcer or sore that eats into and destroys the surrounding flesh, related to the condition called lupus. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A sore or ulcer that slowly eats away at the flesh.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A ground-hunting spider of the family Lycosidae that pursues prey on foot rather than trapping it in a web.
- (noun) An unpleasant, beating or warbling tone produced on a bowed string instrument when a played note clashes with the instrument's own resonance.
- (noun) Any of several destructive larvae of beetles and grain moths that infest stored grain, such as the larva of the moth Nemapogon granella.
- (noun) A machine, also called a willow or willy, that cleans and loosens wool, cotton, or other textile fibers before carding.

## Origin

From Old English wulf, going back through Proto-Germanic *wulfaz to Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos. It is related to Dutch wolf, German Wolf, Latin lupus, Greek lýkos, Sanskrit vṛ́ka and Russian volk.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wolf (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).