wolf
noun /wʊlf/
/wʊlf/
(plural wolves
Idioms /wʊlvz/
/wʊlvz/
)- a large wild animal of the dog family, that lives and hunts in groups
- She compared the media to a pack of ravening/ravenous wolves.
Extra ExamplesTopics Animalsb1- A lone wolf howled under the full moon.
- Labour groups are often seen as the big bad wolf.
- She called the media ‘ravening wolves’.
- a story of a young boy raised by wolves
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- lone
- wild
- hungry
- …
- pack
- growl
- howl
- hunt
- …
- cub
- pack
Word OriginOld English wulf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wolf and German Wolf, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin lupus and Greek lukos. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.
Idioms
cry wolf
- to call for help when you do not need it, with the result that when you do need it people do not believe you
keep the wolf from the door
- (informal) to have enough money to avoid going hungry; to stop somebody feeling hungry
a lone wolf
- a person who prefers to be alone
throw somebody to the wolves
- to leave somebody to be roughly treated or criticized without trying to help or defend them
a wolf in sheep’s clothing
- a person who seems to be friendly or not likely to cause any harm but is really an enemy