wolf

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Animals

wolf1 /wʊlf/ ●●○ noun (plural wolves /wʊlvz/) [countable]  1  HBAa wild animal that looks like a large dog and lives and hunts in groups 狼 a pack of wolves 一群狼2. a wolf in sheep’s clothing BAD PERSONsomeone who seems to be friendly or harmless but is in fact dangerous, dishonest etc 披着羊皮的狼3  keep the wolf from the door SURVIVEto earn just enough money to buy the basic things you need 勉强维持生计 I work part-time in a coffee shop just to keep the wolf from the door. 我在一家咖啡馆打零工，勉强糊口。 —wolfish adjective a wolfish grin 狞笑 → cry wolf at cry1(7), → lone wolf at lone(3)

Examples from the Corpus

wolf• a pack of wolves• A wild cat passes near, somebody spots a yak, there is talk of a new plague of wolves.• They were shown to a small table in the corner, next to a life-sized plaster wolf.• The wolf: A wicked, clever, hungry, talking wolf.• So the wolf tried to climb down through the chimney.• And, of course, there were the wolves.• The wolf was so full, in fact, that he could not fit out through the exit again.• The wolves clustered around the base of the tree looked up with interest at their next meal talking to himself.pack of wolves• Puppies will herd hens in a farmyard, just as a pack of wolves will encircle an ailing prey.• The genes in a pack of wolves don't all stand to gain from the same set of events in the future.• A pack of wolves is not.• Men prowled the motel like packs of wolves searching out easy prey.• It is not true of the pack of wolves.wolf2 (also wolf down) verb [transitive]  informalEAT to eat something very quickly, swallowing it in big pieces 狼吞虎咽地吃 SYN gobble→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

wolf• Jim changed quickly, took out some clothes for the next morning, then wolfed down his dinner.• And it was wolfed down like fast food, digested with a raucous burp.• I wolfed down my lunch, charming a second helping out of the all-smiles stewardess.• Gao Ma wolfed down ome leftover rice and walked out on to the sandbar behind his house, till feeling empty inside.• Nathan returned his attention to his notes and began to eat, wolfing down the food.• She and Miguel wolfed down three pieces.• But the school dinner she was wolfing down was nothing like the standard favourite of baked beans, burgers and ice-cream.• Liberated, Ethel frisked with a Jack Russell in a red, spotted scarf and wolfed up a half-eaten beefburger bun.Origin wolf1 Old English wulf

wolf1 nounwolf2 verbChinese  

a looks wild Corpus animal like a large that

wolf

I

wolf¹ /wʊlf/ noun (plural wolves /wʊlvz/) [countable]
1. a wild animal that looks like a large dog and lives and hunts in groups:
    a pack of wolves
2. a wolf in sheep’s clothing someone who seems to be friendly or harmless but is in fact dangerous, dishonest etc
3. keep the wolf from the door to earn just enough money to buy the basic things you need:
    I work part-time in a coffee shop just to keep the wolf from the door.
—wolfish adjective:
    a wolfish grin
⇨ cry wolf at cry¹(7), ⇨ lone wolf at lone(3)

II

wolf² (also wolf down) verb [transitive]
informal to eat something very quickly, swallowing it in big pieces
   SYN  gobble