caterwauling en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈkætəwɔːlɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- [-ɾɚ-] (General-American)
- /ˈkætɚˌwɔlɪŋ/ (General-American)
- /-ˌwɑ-/ (General-American)
Etymology
Etymology tree English caterwaul Middle English -ynge English -ing English caterwauling From caterwaul + -ing.
Meanings
-
(form-of, gerund) gerund of caterwaul: a sound that caterwauls.
form of caterwaul
VVhy, here is nothing in the vvorld in this houſe but catter-vvavvling from morning till night, nothing but catter-vvavvling. Hoity toity! vvho have vve here?
1762 December 8 (first performance), [Isaac Bickerstaffe], Love in a Village; a Comic Opera. […], 4th edition, London: […] W. Griffin; for J[ohn] Newbery, and W. Nicoll, […]; G[eorge] Kearsley, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; and J. Walter, […], published 1763, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 26:Contrary to the caterwauling of Iran hawks, the deal Trump reached isn’t the problem — it’s simply a tacit acknowledgment of a defeat that was already baked in.
2026 June 15, Michelle Goldberg, “The UFC 250 Was a Garish Spectacle of American Decline”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Now, I like a good tune what is a tune; but them caterwaulings and dirges that that chap Gray plays on that fiddle of his—gorry, Mr. Smith, I'd rather hear the old barn door at home squeak any day.
1918, Eleanor H. Porter, Oh, Money! Money!:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| caterwaulings | Number=Plur | lexicographic |