yowl

From Middle English youlen, goulen, from Old Norse gaula (“to low, bellow, howl, scream”), related to Icelandic gaula (“to yell, howl, roar”), Faroese geyla (“to bawl, squall, shout, yell, bellow”), Norwegian gaule (“to roar, howl, whine, weep noisily”), dialectal Swedish gjöla, Scots gowl (“to howl, yell, roar”), Shetlandic Scots gjol. Initial y- possibly influenced by Middle English yollen, yellen (“to yell”).

• Rhymes: -aʊl

yowl (plural yowls)

1. A prolonged, loud cry, like the sound of an animal; a wail; a howl.

yowl (third-person singular simple present yowls, present participle yowling, simple past and past participle yowled)

1. (intransitive) Utter a yowl.
2. (transitive) Express by yowling; utter with a yowl.

• yowler

• Lowy, owly