as in to complain
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
like many kids during summer vacation, they were caterwauling about the lack of things to do
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in yowl
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of caterwaul
Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 21 June 2023
An ambulance caterwauled down Sunset Boulevard, which runs parallel one block below.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Oct. 2022
Until Ivey and the Department of Corrections can explain how the prison construction program caterwauled out of control, lawmakers should put the brakes on all state spending.
—Kyle Whitmire, al, 17 Mar. 2023
Republicans could caterwaul about the skyrocketing debt without actually having to do anything about it except express their disapproval. Getting most creative.
—Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 29 Sep. 2021
In a season of a lively baseball, the Twins hit a silly number of home runs and came caterwauling out of the great north and took their division.
—Michael Powell, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2019
The media–Democrat caterwauling over Trump’s election-rigging spiel was not rooted in patriotic commitment to the American democratic tradition of accepting election outcomes.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 16 Aug. 2019
Media outlets that caterwaul about all this become the victims of commercial crises.
—The Economist, 21 June 2018
This lets Congress caterwaul on behalf of special interests while blaming Presidents for not punishing foreigners.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 7 June 2018
Verb
That said, Shelton’s lyrics are much more darkly relatable and heartbreaking than someone caterwauling about being their own worst enemy.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for caterwaul
Verb
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For nothing is more European, at least in today’s Europe, than being bullied by Russia while complaining about the United States.—
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Developers themselves have complained that their companies are not doing enough to weed out harassment online.—
Noun
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Yes, that would be Post Malone, who convincingly simulated Kurt Cobain’s phlegmy yowls, rocking the mic as Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic thrashed and crashed around him.—
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As a shape-shifting rock poet — a prophet with a nasal yowl — Dylan and his opaque words were particularly attractive for theorists of the literary, musical and conspiratorial varieties.—
Verb
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Preston Turano, a veterinarian and spokesperson at Felix Cat Insurance, told Newsweek that yelling, screaming, and physical punishment should never be used when training or communicating with your cat.—
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Moments after an emphatic two-handed jam in the closing seconds that sealed Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s 68-61 upset of Harvard-Westlake on Friday night in Studio City, Tyran Stokes clenched both fists, turned toward his teammates and screamed at the top of his lungs.—
Noun
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The jungle struck up its evening symphony: the sweet chittering of insects, the distant bellowing of monkeys, the occasional screech of a kite.—
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But as the race against former President Trump screeches into its final week, joy has taken the back seat.—
Verb
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Rather than obediently following instructions, the Labrador made his displeasure known in an unmistakably human-like manner—growling, whining and huffing in defiance while facing his owners.—
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In a slice of rich irony, OpenAI itself began to whine a couple of weeks ago when a Chinese rival, DeepSeek, garnered sudden attention.—
Verb
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Men writhe and moan in the shadows just out of sight as a young gay man walks through the dark room at Adonis, Copenhagen’s only gay sauna.—
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Shows that not all football teams need to be Champions League contenders and not all fans need to be moaning about the failings of their club.—
Noun
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The Republican conference is rife with sticking points as budget hawks squawk and some House Republicans insist on increasing the state and local tax deduction.—
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There’s no dialogue, at least none decipherable to human ears — everything is a symphony of meows, woofs, squawks, grunts, squeaks, squeals and simian cries.—
Noun
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And the acoustic details to amplify the roar of the crowd.—
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Rudolph’s free-form use of onscreen effects and graphics extracts in visual form the manic contents of this inner verbal roar.—
Cite this Entry
“Caterwaul.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caterwaul. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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