wolf
wolf
(wlf) noun
plural wolves (
wlvz)
1.
a. Either of two carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae, especially the gray wolf of northern regions, that typically live and hunt in hierarchical packs and prey on livestock and game animals. b. The fur of such an animal. c. Any of various similar or related mammals, such as the hyena.
2. The destructive larva of any of various moths, beetles, or flies.
3. One that is regarded as predatory, rapacious, and fierce.
4. Slang. A man given to paying unwanted sexual attention to women.
5. Music. a. A harshness in some tones of a bowed stringed instrument produced by defective vibration. b. Dissonance in some intervals of a keyboard instrument tuned to a system of unequal temperament.
verb
, transitive
wolfed, wolfing, wolfs
To eat greedily or voraciously: "The town's big shots were . . . wolfing down the buffet" (Ralph Ellison).
idiom.
keep the wolf from the door Slang
To avoid the privation and suffering resulting from a lack of money: Both spouses had to take jobs in order to keep the wolf from the door.
wolf at the door
Creditors or a creditor.
wolf in sheep's clothing
One who feigns congeniality while actually holding malevolent intentions.
[Middle English, from Old English wulf.]