caterwauling

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English caterwaul

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-gō

Proto-Germanic *-ōngō?

Proto-Germanic *-ungō

Old English -ung

Middle English -ynge

English -ing

English caterwauling

From caterwaul + -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkætəwɔːlɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkætɚˌwɔlɪŋ/, /-ˌwɑ-/, [-ɾɚ-]
• Hyphenation: cat‧er‧waul‧ing

Noun

caterwauling (plural caterwaulings)

1. gerund of caterwaul: a sound that caterwauls.
   • 1762 December 8 (first performance), [Isaac Bickerstaffe], Love in a Village; a Comic Opera. […], 4th edition, London: […] W. Griffin; for J[ohn] Newbery, and W. Nicoll, […]; G[eorge] Kearsley, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; and J. Walter, […], published 1763, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 26:

     VVhy, here is nothing in the vvorld in this houſe but catter-vvavvling from morning till night, nothing but catter-vvavvling. Hoity toity! vvho have vve here?

   • 1918, Eleanor H. Porter, Oh, Money! Money!:

     Now, I like a good tune what is a tune; but them caterwaulings and dirges that that chap Gray plays on that fiddle of his—gorry, Mr. Smith, I'd rather hear the old barn door at home squeak any day.

   • 2026 June 15, Michelle Goldberg, “The UFC 250 Was a Garish Spectacle of American Decline”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Contrary to the caterwauling of Iran hawks, the deal Trump reached isn’t the problem — it’s simply a tacit acknowledgment of a defeat that was already baked in.

Verb

caterwauling

1. present participle and gerund of caterwaul