gray wolf

noun

: a large, broad-headed, wide-muzzled wolf (Canis lupus) that has a dense, heavy coat of usually light brown or brownish gray interspersed with black above and yellowish white below and that was formerly widely distributed throughout North America and Eurasia but is now greatly restricted to the more northerly parts of its range

The only sizable gray wolf population south of Canada and Alaska continues to roam the forest-and-lake country of northern Minnesota.

—Vic Banks

Note: The gray wolf has been considered a threat to livestock and people for hundreds of years and has been wiped out from most of its original range by hunting, trapping, and poisoning.

called also timber wolf

Illustration of gray wolf

Examples of gray wolf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At that same time, U.S. Fish and Wildlife put forward plans to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List. —Clark Corbin, Idaho Statesman, 12 June 2025

The pilot program, which will be staffed day and night, is the state’s first major response to a wave of attacks on cattle and incursions into populated areas by the state’s resurgent gray wolf population. —Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 11 June 2025

Wildlife Watch The diversity of species in Pictured Rocks is impressive, ranging from the occasional moose to the gray wolf and bald eagle. —Graham Averill, Outside Online, 30 May 2025

What Colossal actually did was edit a small number of gray wolf genes, aiming to create physical traits that resemble those of the extinct dire wolf. —Elay Shech, The Conversation, 30 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1595, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gray wolf

• werewolf
• beowulf

Kids Definition

gray wolf

noun

: a large wolf of northern regions that is usually gray

called also timber wolf