Wolf (?), n.; pl.
Wolves (#). [OE. wolf, wulf, AS.
wulf; akin to OS. wulf, D. & G. wolf, Icel.
ūlfr, Sw. ulf, Dan. ulv, Goth. wulfs,
Lith. vilkas, Russ. volk', L. lupus, Gr.
ly`kos, Skr. vṛka; also to Gr. "e`lkein
to draw, drag, tear in pieces. √286. Cf. Lupine,
a., Lyceum.]
1. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species
of wild and savage carnivores belonging to the genus Canis and
closely allied to the common dog. The best-known and most destructive
species are the European wolf (Canis lupus), the American gray, or
timber, wolf (C. occidentalis), and the prairie wolf, or coyote.
Wolves often hunt in packs, and may thus attack large animals and even
man.
2. (Zoöl.) One of the destructive, and
usually hairy, larvæ of several species of beetles and grain moths;
as, the bee wolf.
3. Fig.: Any very ravenous, rapacious, or
destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation; as, they toiled
hard to keep the wolf from the door.
4. A white worm, or maggot, which infests
granaries.
5. An eating ulcer or sore. Cf.
Lupus. [Obs.]
If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf
into thy side.
Jer. Taylor.
6. (Mus.) (a) The harsh,
howling sound of some of the chords on an organ or piano tuned by unequal
temperament. (b) In bowed instruments, a
harshness due to defective vibration in certain notes of the
scale.
7. (Textile Manuf.) A willying
machine. Knight.
Black wolf. (Zoöl.) (a)
A black variety of the European wolf which is common in the
Pyrenees. (b) A black variety of the American gray
wolf. -- Golden wolf (Zoöl.), the
Thibetan wolf (Canis laniger); -- called also chanco. --
Indian wolf (Zoöl.), an Asiatic wolf
(Canis pallipes) which somewhat resembles a jackal. Called also
landgak. -- Prairie wolf (Zoöl.),
the coyote. -- Sea wolf. (Zoöl.)
See in the Vocabulary. -- Strand wolf
(Zoöl.) the striped hyena. -- Tasmanian
wolf (Zoöl.), the zebra wolf. --
Tiger wolf (Zoöl.), the spotted
hyena. -- To keep the wolf from the door, to
keep away poverty; to prevent starvation. See Wolf, 3, above.
Tennyson. -- Wolf dog. (Zoöl.)
(a) The mastiff, or shepherd dog, of the Pyrenees,
supposed by some authors to be one of the ancestors of the St. Bernard
dog. (b) The Irish greyhound, supposed to have
been used formerly by the Danes for chasing wolves.
(c) A dog bred between a dog and a wolf, as the Eskimo
dog. -- Wolf eel (Zoöl.), a wolf
fish. -- Wolf fish (Zoöl.), any one
of several species of large, voracious marine fishes of the genus
Anarrhichas, especially the common species (A. lupus) of
Europe and North America. These fishes have large teeth and powerful jaws.
Called also catfish, sea cat, sea wolf, stone
biter, and swinefish. -- Wolf net, a
kind of net used in fishing, which takes great numbers of fish. --
Wolf's peach (Bot.), the tomato, or love apple
(Lycopersicum esculentum). -- Wolf spider
(Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of running ground
spiders belonging to the genus Lycosa, or family
Lycosidæ. These spiders run about rapidly in search of their
prey. Most of them are plain brown or blackish in color. See
Illust. in App. -- Zebra wolf
(Zoöl.), a savage carnivorous marsupial (Thylacinus
cynocephalus) native of Tasmania; -- called also Tasmanian
wolf.