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

Researchers then used that genome to make edits in the gray wolf genome to express dire wolf-specific traits. —Mike Snider, USA Today, 1 Oct. 2025

Legislation he's introduced recently includes ending an exception to a visa program that universities use for hard-to-fill jobs and delisting the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act. —Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 23 Sep. 2025

Their nearest relative, the gray wolf, still roams forests and tundras. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025

Colorado voters in 2020 voted 51% to 49% to bring the gray wolf back to the state, with a majority of the support coming from the urban Front Range. —Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 8 Sep. 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