wolf

wolf
I. noun (plural wolves) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wulf; akin to Old High German wolf wolf, Latin lupus, Greek lykos Date: before 12th century 1. plural also wolf a. any of several large predatory canids (genus Canis) that live and hunt in packs and resemble the related dogs; especially gray wolf — compare coyote, jackal 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 b. dire poverty ; starvation <
keep the wolf from the door
> c. the maggot of a warble fly 3. [German; from the howling sound] a. (1) dissonance in some chords on organs, pianos, or other instruments with fixed tones tuned by unequal temperament (2) an instance of such dissonance b. a harshness due to faulty vibration in various tones in a bowed instrument • wolflike adjective II. transitive verb Date: 1862 to eat greedily ; devour

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Wolf — (Canis lupus) Systematik Ordnung: Raubtiere (Carnivora) Überfamilie: Hundeartige (Canoidea) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wolf — Wolf, n.; pl. {Wolves}. [OE. wolf, wulf, AS. wulf; akin to OS. wulf, D. & G. wolf, Icel. [=u]lfr, Sw. ulf, Dan. ulv, Goth. wulfs, Lith. vilkas, Russ. volk , L. lupus, Gr. ly kos, Skr. v[.r]ka; also to Gr. e lkein to draw, drag, tear in pieces.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • WOLF (H.) — «La vie de Wolf, écrit Ernst Decsey, ressemble à un de ses lieder: courte introduction, toute en lutte, explosion, décharge du cœur en une cantilène brûlante, chute dans un épilogue muet: un drame sur une page d’imprimerie.» Quant à son œuvre,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Wolf — Wolf: Wolf   общепринятое сокращение (обозначение) имени ботаника, которое добавляется к научным (латинским) названиям некоторых таксонов ботанической номенклатуры и указывает на то, что автором этих наименований является Вольф,… …   Википедия

  • WOLF — WOLF, U.S. family of communal leaders with branches in Philadelphia and Washington. The brothers ELIAS WOLF (1820–after 1881) and ABRAHAM and LEVI WOLF (1811–1893) were born in Bavaria and emigrated to the United States. Elias Wolf arrived about… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • wolf — O.E. wulf, from P.Gmc. *wulfaz (Cf. O.S. wulf, O.N. ulfr, O.Fris., Du., O.H.G., Ger. wolf, Goth. wulfs), from PIE *wlqwos/*lukwos, from root *wlp /*lup (Cf. Skt. vrkas, Avestan vehrka ; Albanian ulk; O.C.S. vluku; Rus …   Etymology dictionary

  • Wolf — Wolf: Der gemeingerm. Tiername mhd., ahd. wolf, got. wulfs, engl. wolf, schwed. ulv beruht mit verwandten Wörtern in anderen idg. Sprachen auf idg. *u̯l̥ko s »Wolf«, vgl. z. B. lat. lupus »Wolf«, griech. lýkos »Wolf«. Das idg. Wort ist… …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • Wolf — Wolf, Charles Wolf, Christa Wolf, Friedrich August Wolf, Johannes Wolf, Max Wolf, Rudolf * * * (as used in expressions) Sacks, Oliver (Wolf) Wolf, Christa Wolf, Hugo (Filipp Jakob) …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • WOLF (C.) — WOLF CHRISTA (1929 ) Christa Wolf est née à Landsberg. Après des études de germanistique, elle devient collaboratrice scientifique du Deutscher Schriftstellerverband, l’Union des écrivains allemands, puis lectrice et rédactrice à Berlin Est et… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • wolf — ► NOUN (pl. wolves) 1) a carnivorous mammal that lives and hunts in packs and is the largest member of the dog family. 2) informal a man who habitually seduces women. ► VERB (usu. wolf down) ▪ devour (food) greedily. ● cry wolf Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • wolf — [woolf] n. pl. wolves [woolvz] [ME < OE wulf, akin to Ger wolf, ON ulfr, Goth wulfs < IE base * wḷp , * lup , name of animals of prey > L lupus, Gr lykos] 1. a) any of various wild canine carnivores (genus Canis), esp. the gray wolf,… …   English World dictionary

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