yowl en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /jaʊl/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English youlen, goulen, from Old Norse gaula (“to low, bellow, howl, scream”), related to Icelandic gaula (“to yell, howl, roar”), Faroese geyla (“to bawl, squall, shout, yell, bellow”), Norwegian gaule (“to roar, howl, whine, weep noisily”), dialectal Swedish gjöla, Scots gowl (“to howl, yell, roar”), Shetlandic Scots gjol. Initial y- possibly influenced by Middle English yollen, yellen (“to yell”).
Meanings
-
A prolonged, loud cry, like the sound of an animal; a wail; a howl.
“Before he was a twel’month ould he had a mouth full o’ great teeth; his hands wor like ’s claws, and his legs wor no thicker nor the handle of a whip, and about as straight as a rapin’ hook; to make the matther worse, he had the gut uv a cormorant, and the whinge, and the yelp, and the screech, and the yowl, was never out of his mouth.”
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 522:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| yowls | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (16)
nl jank (loud cry) · gl oulo (loud cry) · nl gejank (loud cry) · ka ღმული (loud cry) · cs skučení (loud cry) · cs ječení (loud cry) · gl uivo (loud cry) · bg вой (loud cry) · cs vytí (loud cry) · gl ouveo (loud cry) · gl argüido (loud cry) · gl requeneo (loud cry) · bg писък (loud cry) · ga uaill (loud cry) · ka ყმუილი (loud cry) · es aullido (loud cry)