Note: Wolves have long been viewed as threats to livestock and people resulting in significant worldwide declines in their numbers and range size due to persistent eradication efforts (as by hunting, trapping, and poisoning).
b
: the fur of a wolf
2
a(1)
: a fierce, rapacious, or destructive person
(2)
: a man forward, direct, and zealous in amatory attentions to women
Noun no sooner had the lottery winner's name been made public than the wolves with their investment schemes showed up on her doorstep Verb don't wolf your food or you'll be sick
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But this segment of What’s Ahead warns that, despite plenty of soothing language, the order is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Steve Forbes, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2022 So, just before 7 a.m. on travel day, zoo employees gathered outside the Mexican wolf exhibit. Matt Mcclain, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2022 Moose numbers boomed during the wolf drop-off but have plunged since. John Flesher, Detroit Free Press, 25 Aug. 2022 This costume comes with it all: the dress, mini red satin bows, an attachable tail, a wolf ear headband, wrist cuffs and furry leg warmers. Cameron Jenkins, Good Housekeeping, 11 Aug. 2022 Windy, age 16, was the last surviving member of a group of six wolf pups taken in by the Anchorage facility 16 years ago. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Aug. 2022 But researchers from Rice University have created just that—dead wolf spiders that can be used as machines to pick up and put down objects. Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Aug. 2022 The wolf spiders used in the research were capable of grasping objects 130% of their own mass, according to the report. Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 28 July 2022 His spiritual animals in this movie is a wolf and a bear. Brett Williams, Men's Health, 21 Apr. 2022
Verb
Some of these guys wolf down rib eyes between pitches. Nick Canepacolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 July 2022 For the time being, project assistants buzz around with power tools and lots of questions, pausing occasionally to wolf down slices of pizza. Naomi Waxman, sun-sentinel.com, 14 July 2021 The letter also said there were cultural considerations that should be accounted for in a delisting, alluding to the opposition by some Native Americans to wolf hunting.Star Tribune, 19 Dec. 2020 Mexicano and my sisters and I would wolf it down whenever Mom made it. Anita L. Arambula, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Sep. 2020 Maestas said Catron County, New Mexico, long a holdout to wolf releases, has joined the conservation effort. Debra Utacia Krol, azcentral, 19 Mar. 2020 America is the world’s second-biggest meat market; the average American wolfs down more than 100kg a year.The Economist, 27 Feb. 2020 After wolfing down the food, Rojas said, the couple ordered 10 burritos to go before heading off to the flight back to Denver.Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2020 The aliens are still out there, of course, and probably getting pretty hungry, having wolfed down so much of Earth's population in the first film. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 1 Jan. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Old English wulf; akin to Old High German wolf wolf, Latin lupus, Greek lykos
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a