howling 1 of 2

Definition of howlingnext
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howling

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verb

present participle of howl
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as in screaming
to make a long loud mournful sound several coyotes began howling close by as the sun went down the wind howled on the open plain

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of howling
Adjective
The City of Aurora, Illinois, is touting a howling success. Adam Harrington, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026 With relentless howling wind making up much of the soundtrack, The Turin Horse was a chilling, enigmatic stunner that played like a metaphor for the apocalypse. Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026 After the rain stopped, there was a strange howling sound from the wind that was loud, constant, and all night long. Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025 Aaron Chown—Press Association via AP Images People remove a new artwork by Banksy, depicting a howling wolf painted on a satellite dish that was placed on a shop roof in Peckham, south London. Rebecca Schneid, Time, 10 Sep. 2025 Get ready for a wild ride in Kansas City as a weather system will send temperatures plummeting and usher in howling winds, rain and maybe some light snow on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 19 Mar. 2025 Burning telephone poles blocked lanes and black soot swept across the pavement, blown by the howling winds. Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2025 But most ominous of all, at least for me, are the howling winds. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 9 July 2024 Sender shifts between stories of love — between lovers, friends, family, ghosts — and the great looming shadow of the Holocaust, making a deep and howling portrait of longing and loneliness. Nina McLaughlin, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2023
Verb
Every trip down and back left his lungs howling. Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026 In the grips of her ghost, the young woman starts howling accusations aimed at a local mob boss (Zlatko Burić) who happens to be sitting at the bar. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026 Conjuring images of blizzards and howling winds, Kevin Richard Martin’s Sub Zero is called that for a reason. Andrew Ryce, Pitchfork, 27 Feb. 2026 But physical appearance is not the only thing that defines them, as therians adopt animal-like attitudes such as walking or running on all fours, sniffing, howling, meowing, and sometimes biting. Paula Soria, AZCentral.com, 17 Feb. 2026 The onslaught of bad news elicited howling in Canada, groans in Atlanta and frenetic Googling to determine just what, exactly, is the hamate bone. Andy McCullough, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026 The poll comes as the ballot measure proposal, which is being pushed by the health care worker labor union SEIU-UHW, draws howling fury from some vocal billionaires who have threatened to leave the state and, in some cases, taken steps toward divesting from California. Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 21 Jan. 2026 Whitman’s howling yodel and clean-cut persona were a far cry from the sound Presley had been rehearsing. Joe Sills, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026 Eventually, several officers move in on the man, and the video shows the dog down, then jumping to its feet while howling. Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for howling
Adjective
  • Think Pictionary, but with way more yelling and questionable drawings.
    Francesca Krempa, StyleCaster, 11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • But his crying scene in Ford v Ferrari is one for the ages.
    Michael Granberry, Dallas News, 17 Jan. 2020
Verb
  • Police were called to Access Self Storage at 7000 Southwest 22nd Court on March 1 after an employee reported hearing a man inside a unit screaming and asking for medical attention, according to the report.
    David Goodhue March 10, Miami Herald, 10 Mar. 2026
  • During cross-examination of Kaley in February, a Meta lawyer played footage of her mother screaming at her that the teen had posted to social media, and displayed Kaley’s lower-case Instagram story rants about her home life.
    Bloomberg, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • The finale is an ambiguous mix of jollity and agitation, with a piccolo shrieking above a militant march.
    Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 6 Mar. 2026
  • When his kids melted down and started shrieking over the usual tantrum-inducing nonsense that sometimes sets off 4-year-olds, Buttigieg looked around nervously, gathered his family, and left the shop fast.
    Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • But critics of bell-to-bell bans are just as vocal.
    Theo Peck-Suzuki, Hartford Courant, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Country singers impressed, as did the unique vocal stylings of dementia-care aide Brooks Rosser, who is all but certain to be among the last standing in the competition.
    Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • For five days, Nelsie Yang worried over the fate of her father’s younger brother, a beloved uncle removed from his home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the presence of his wailing children, one of whom has a genetic condition similar to Down syndrome.
    Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
  • In Union City on Saturday, March 7, the purring and wailing of chainsaws was constant.
    Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 7 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Someone must have been squealing.
    Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026
  • The sheriff’s office Facebook post about Penelope’s arrest racked up hundreds of comments and reactions within an hour, including a lot of pig, hog, pork, ham, bacon and squealing puns.
    Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 17 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Bowling at run-hungry batters on largely unforgiving pitches in vast, cacophonous stadiums with huge outfields in front of a partisan and at times baying crowd — plenty of English bowlers have found bowling in Australia akin to a Sisyphean task.
    James Wallace, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Howling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/howling. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.

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