What does waul mean?
Waul is an uncommon verb meaning to make a prolonged, loud cry, most often the mournful or demanding cry of a cat. It can also describe a person crying or wailing noisily, though this use sounds more literary or exaggerated than the ordinary word cry. The sound described by waul is usually sustained and forceful rather than brief or conversational, and the word has a slightly old-fashioned or distinctly expressive quality. In everyday use, a cat may let out a waul from somewhere in the house, while a frustrated person might waul in comic or dramatic contexts. Because wail and yowl are more familiar and cover much of the same semantic range, waul is especially valuable as a precise, vivid term for a catlike cry and for vivid descriptions of vocalization.
verbTo make a prolonged, loud cry, especially the mournful or demanding cry of a cat. The word can also be used more generally for a person wailing noisily.
- To make a prolonged, loud cry, especially like a cat.
- To cry or wail loudly.
"The cat let out a waul that startled the entire room."
"The cat wauled outside the window until someone let it in."
"She wauled with frustration when the engine would not start."
Wauling has a catlike sound, but the word can also describe a person crying loudly enough to startle a room.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does waul come from?
Waul developed in English as a variant of wail, a word inherited from Old English and ultimately connected with a wider Germanic family of words for crying or lamenting. The form waul reflects a vocalic variation found in Middle English, in which the vowel was pronounced in a way that developed toward the vowel heard in the modern word. Modern spelling generally prefers wail, leaving waul as a less common alternative with a particularly strong association with a cat's cry.
Related word forms
How waul is actually used
Waul is relatively uncommon and sounds more vivid and colloquial than wail. Its characteristic sense refers to a sustained, high-pitched cry, particularly that of a cat.
Easily confused with waul
Wail is the more common word for a sustained cry of grief or distress, whereas waul is especially associated with the loud cry of a cat.
A yowl is characteristically a sharp, prolonged cry, often of pain, fear, or defiance, while a waul is more often described as a deep or mournful vocal cry.