I. wolf 1 /wʊlf/ BrE AmE noun ( plural wolves /wʊlvz/) [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: wulf ]
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 ↑ cry 1 (7), ⇨ lone wolf at ↑ lone (3)
II. wolf 2 BrE AmE ( also wolf down ) verb [transitive]
informal to eat something very quickly, swallowing it in big pieces SYN gobble