gray wolf

noun

Definition of gray wolf

: 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

Examples of gray wolf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Among the animals it is credited with saving are icons such as the bald eagle, brown pelican, gray wolf, and American alligator. — BostonGlobe.com, 29 Sep. 2021 How did Interstate 40 emerge as the boundary for Mexican gray wolf recovery in Arizona? — Lindsey Botts, The Arizona Republic, 18 Sep. 2021 Lawsuits to restore protections for the gray wolf, with plaintiffs including Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, and the Humane Society of the U.S. were rejected back in January, when the administrations changed. — Alexandra Larkin, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2021 While the wolf hunts continue, environmentalists are fighting to reinstate federal protections for the gray wolf. — Eleanor Cummins, The New Republic, 2 Aug. 2021 Wisconsin law had required an annual hunt to occur between mid-October and the end of February ifthe gray wolf was delisted. — Tess Joosse, Scientific American, 7 Sep. 2021 Wildlife advocacy groups are set to file a lawsuit Tuesday in Dane County to stop a Wisconsin gray wolf hunting and trapping season scheduled to begin in November as well as overturn the state statute that requires an annual wolf season. — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2021 Last year, the Trump administration announced that the gray wolf would be removed from the list of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. — Alexandra Larkin, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2021 The decision to delist the gray wolf was, in some ways, a long time coming. — Eleanor Cummins, The New Republic, 2 Aug. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gray wolf.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.