This week we continue our vocabulary-building series, “The Closing Word.” Each week we provide a new word to help build your vocabulary and show you an example of how to use it.
This week’s closing word:
caterwaul
Pronounced: (CAT-ur-wall)
Verb:
utter shrieks, as of cats
Noun:
the yowling sound made by a cat
From Vocabulary.com: “While a caterwaul can be made by a person, it’s more likely the wailing sound that a distressed or fighting animal makes. To make this sound is to caterwaul — it’s both a noun and verb. Cats are, in fact, the animal best known to caterwaul, and the word is believed to come from the German katerwaulen, “cry like a cat,” or possibly the Middle Dutch cater, “tomcat,” and Middle English waul, “yowl.”
Example:
“Don’t caterwaul over small concessions in the contract when you’re getting a killer price on the property.”
