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Jan 26, 2021
This week’s theme
It’s raining cats & dogs

This week’s words
cynegetic
caterwaul
dogged
canicular
fat cat

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with Anu Garg

caterwaul

PRONUNCIATION:
(KAT-uhr-wol)

MEANING:
verb intr.:1. To make a shrill sound as if of a cat in heat or of cats quarreling.
 2. To quarrel noisily.
noun:1. The cry of a cat in heat.
 2. A shrill sound, such as a shriek or a loud cry.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Middle English caterwawlen, from cater (tomcat or cat) + wawlen (to howl). Earliest documented use: 1386.

USAGE:
“She threw her arms around me and started caterwauling like the wail of the damned.”
Dan Andriacco; Holmes Sweet Holmes; MX Publishing; 2018.

See more usage examples of caterwaul in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Catch-and-release, that's like running down pedestrians in your car and then, when they get up and limp away, saying -- Off you go! That's fine. I just wanted to see if I could hit you. -Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, television host, and actress (b. 26 Jan 1958)

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