First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
caterwaul
verb cat·er·waul \ˈka-tər-ˌwȯl\
: to make a very loud and unpleasant sound
: to protest or complain noisily
Full Definition of CATERWAUL
intransitive verb
1
: to make a harsh cry
2
: to protest or complain noisily
— caterwaul noun
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Origin of CATERWAUL
Middle English caterwawen
Related to CATERWAUL
- Synonyms
- beef, bellyache, bitch, bleat, carp, complain, crab, croak, fuss, gripe, grizzle, grouch, grouse, growl, grumble, grump, holler, inveigh, keen, kick, kvetch, maunder [chiefly British], moan, murmur, mutter, nag, repine, scream, squawk, squeal, wail, whimper, whine, whinge [British], yammer, yawp (or yaup), yowl
Rhymes with CATERWAUL
above all, aerosol, after all, alcohol, all in all, altar call, barbital, basketball, body wall, borough hall, buckyball, butanol, butterball, buttonball, cannonball, carryall, cattle call, Chinese wall, city hall, climbing wall, conference call, cortisol, cover-all, coverall, crystal ball, curtain call, Demerol, disenthrall, Donegal, entresol, ethanol, evenfall, free-for-all, gasohol, girasole, gopher ball, Grand Guignol, haute école, hiring hall, judgment call, know-it-all, knuckleball, Komsomol, matzo ball, Mendenhall, methanol, music hall, Montreal, Nembutal, off-the-wall, overall, overcall, overhaul, paddleball, parasol, party wall, Pentothal, preinstall, protocol, racquetball, Seconal, Senegal, shopping mall, study hall, tattersall, tetherball, therewithal, timolol, uninstall, urban sprawl, volleyball, wailing wall, wake-up call, wall-to-wall, warts-and-all, waterfall, wherewithal
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