howled; howling; howls

intransitive verb

1
: to emit a loud sustained doleful sound characteristic of members of the dog family
2
: to cry out loudly and without restraint under strong impulse (such as pain, grief, or amusement)
3
: to go on a spree or rampage

transitive verb

1
: to utter with unrestrained outcry
2
: to drown out or cause to fail by adverse outcry
used especially with down
howl noun

Examples of howl in a Sentence

The dogs were howling at the moon. several coyotes began howling close by as the sun went down
Recent Examples on the Web Crews worked through the day to try and clear the massive amounts of snow along I-80, where authorities had abandoned hope Friday night amid howling winds and whiteout conditions. Sacramento Bee, 3 Mar. 2024 Damon spends the movie neck-cradling a handset and, if Messina is howling at him on the other end, holding it at a comical distance and grimacing. Wesley Morris, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024 While the winds of change alternate between hovering and howling over the world of golf, there is relative calm surrounding the Torrey Pines Golf Course — Monday’s wet forecast aside — as 156 players gather this week for the PGA Tour’s annual stop. Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2024 Wind, snow hammer Mammoth Mountain The storm unleashed howling winds and huge snow totals in the mountains. John Bacon, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2024 His astonishing technique ran the gamut from delicate filigree to unearthly howling. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 Some howling spandexes are thought of simply as quartzes. Jay Pilgreen, Kansas City Star, 12 Feb. 2024 Absorbing them was nearly impossible — and launching off them into the howling wind felt crazy. Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2024 The storms that created havoc and destruction in the Sacramento area over the past week with howling wind and flooding rain were supposed to slow a surge in mosquito activity as unusually warm weather brought out the pesky bugs from hibernation. Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 9 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'howl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English houlen; akin to Middle High German hiulen to howl

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of howl was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near howl

Cite this Entry

“Howl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/howl. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

howl

verb
1
: to make a long loud mournful sound like that of a dog
2
: to cry out loudly (as with pain, grief, or amusement)
howled in protest
howling with laughter
3
: to drown out or cause to fail by an outcry
howled down the opposition
howl noun

More from Merriam-Webster on howl

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