howl
/ˈhæʊ̯l/UK/ˈhaʊ̯l/
howl noun: the protracted, mournful cry of a dog, wolf or other canid; also of other animals.
Noun
howl (plural howls)
- The protracted, mournful cry of a dog, wolf or other canid; also of other animals.
- [T]he fox was out on love-adventures, abused his rivals, and uttered scoffing screams and howls.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 117
- All at once the cat thrust her paw inside the ring again, but the tailor was quick as lightning and chopped the paw off. The cats set up a terrible howl, and away they rushed through the door as fast as they could.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 159
- Any similar sound.
- The howl of the wind
- A prolonged cry of distress or anguish; a wail.
Verb
howl (third-person singular simple present howls, present participle howling, simple past and past participle howled)
- To utter a loud, protracted, mournful sound or cry, as dogs and wolves often do.
- Methought a legion of foul fiends / Environ'd me about, and howled in my ears.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- VVhen ominus ſignes to ſhew themſelues began, / That novv at hand this monſtrous birth fore-ran: / About at noone flew the affrighted Ovvle, / And dogs in corners ſet them dovvne to hovvle: […]1627, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “[Elegies upon Sundry Occasions.]”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for William Lee, […], →OCLC, page 223
- To utter a sound expressive of pain or distress; to cry aloud and mournfully; to lament; to wail.
- Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 13:6
- Synonyms:
- ululate
- To make a noise resembling the cry of a wild beast.
- They howled with laughter at the prank.
- Wild howl'd the wind the forest glades along, / And oft the owl renew'd her dismal song; […]1809, Walter Scott, “[Fragments, […].] The Poacher”, in The Poetical Works of Walter Scott, Esq. […], volume XI, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Company] for Arch[ibald] Constable and Co....
- To utter with outcry.
- to howl derision
howl meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
howl in Hindi
- howl
- चीख़ cīx
howl in Tamil
- protracted, mournful cry of a dog or a wolf
- ஊளை ūḷai
- prolonged cry of distress or anguish
- ஊளை ūḷai, ஒப்பாரி oppāri
howl in Urdu
- چیخ, پکار, آہ و زاری کرنا, چیخ پڑنا
howl in Bengali
- আর্তনাদ, নেকড়ের ডাক, উচ্চৈঃস্বরে কান্না
More languagesFewer languages
- howl in Malayalam
- കൂവുക kūvuka
- howl in Kannada
- ಊಳು, ಗಟ್ಟಿ ಕೂಗು, ಅರಚಾಟ, ಚೀರಾಟ
- howl in Sanskrit
- रास् rās, रोदिति róditi, रुदति rudati
- howl in Tagalog
- alulong, umalulong
- howl in Arabic
- عُوَاء ʕuwāʔ, عَوَى ʕawā, أَنَّ ʔanna
- howl in Indonesian
- lolong
- howl in Thai
- หอน hɔ̌ɔn
- howl in Vietnamese
- hú, tru
Examples of howl in a sentence
- When the neighbours' dog barked, ours instantly replied with a howl.
- Some dogs howl; more yelp; still more bark.
- The musician swung the bass over his head like an axe and smashed it into the amplifier, creating a discordant howl of noise.
Synonyms of howl
Forms of howl
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | howls |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | howls |
| present participle | howling |
| past participle | howled |
| past | howled |
Origin of howl
From Middle English howlen, houlen, from Old English *hūlian, from Proto-West Germanic *hūilōn, from Proto-Germanic *hūwilōną, *hiuwilōną (“to howl”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kū-, *kew- (“to howl, scream”). Likely of imitative origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian huulje (“to howl”), Dutch huilen (“to cry”), Romanian a hăuli (“to howl”), Old French ouler, German Low German hulen (“to howl”), German heulen (“to howl”), Danish hyle (“to howl”), Swedish yla (“to scream, yell”), Northern Luri آلٛیر (āłir, “howl”).
Words formed from howl
Phrases with howl
Words that rhyme with howl
15 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about howl
- What does howl mean?
- Howl means the protracted, mournful cry of a dog, wolf or other canid; also of other animals.
- What is howl in Hindi?
- Howl in Hindi is चीख़ (cīx). See Howl meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is howl?
- Howl can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce howl?
- Howl is pronounced /ˈhaʊ̯l/ (UK).
- What is the plural of howl?
- The plural of howl is howls.
Words near howl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: howl (page history and authors); चीख़ (Hindi) (page history and authors); howl (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Howl (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കൂവുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); howl (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); रास् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-howl.ogg.
Cite this entry: “howl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/howl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.