Wolf \Wolf\, n.; pl. Wolves. [OE. wolf, wulf, AS.
         wulf; akin
   to OS. wulf, D. & G. wolf, Icel. [=u]lfr, Sw.
         ulf, Dan. ulv,
   Goth. wulfs, Lith. vilkas, Russ. volk',
         L. lupus, Gr. ly`kos,
   Skr. v[.r]ka; also to Gr. "e`lkein
         to draw, drag, tear in
   pieces. [root]286. Cf. Lupine,
         a., Lyceum.]
   [1913
         Webster]
   1. (Zool.) Any one of
         several species of wild and savage
      carnivores
         belonging to the genus Canis and closely
     
         allied to
         the common dog. The best-known and most
      destructive
         species are the European wolf (Canis lupus),
      the
         American gray, or timber, wolf (Canis occidentalis),
    
          and the prairie wolf, or coyote. Wolves often hunt in
    
          packs, and may thus attack large animals and even man.
   
           [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.) One of the destructive,
         and usually hairy, larvae
      of several species of
         beetles and grain moths; as, the bee
      wolf.
     
         [1913 Webster]

   3. Fig.: Any very ravenous, rapacious,
         or destructive person
      or thing; especially, want;
         starvation; as, they toiled
      hard to keep the wolf
         from the door.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A white worm,
         or maggot, which infests granaries.
      [1913
         Webster]

   5. An eating ulcer or sore. Cf. Lupus.
         [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf
            into thy side.                        --Jer. Taylor.
   
           [1913 Webster]

   6. (Mus.)
      (a) The harsh,
         howling sound of some of the chords on an
          organ or piano tuned by unequal temperament.
      (b) In
         bowed instruments, a harshness due to defective
          vibration in certain notes of the scale.
          [1913 Webster]

   7. (Textile Manuf.) A willying
         machine. --Knight.
      [1913 Webster]

   Black wolf.
         (Zool.)
      (a) A black variety of the European wolf
         which is common
          in the Pyrenees.
      (b) A black variety of the American
         gray wolf.

   Golden
         wolf (Zool.), the Thibetan wolf
         (Canis laniger);

              -- called also chanco.

  
         Indian wolf (Zool.),
         an Asiatic wolf (Canis pallipes)
 
             which somewhat resembles a jackal. Called also
         landgak.
      

  
         Prairie wolf
         (Zool.), the
         coyote.

   Sea wolf.
         (Zool.) See in the Vocabulary.


           Strand wolf
         (Zool.) the striped hyena.

   {Tasmanian
         wolf} (Zool.), the zebra wolf.

   Tiger wolf (Zool.),
         the spotted hyena.

   To keep the wolf from the door,
         to keep away poverty; to
      prevent starvation. See
         Wolf, 3, above.
         --Tennyson.

   Wolf
         dog. (Zool.)
   
           (a) The mastiff, or shepherd dog, of the Pyrenees,
          supposed by some authors to be one of the ancestors of
          the St. Bernard dog.
      (b) The Irish greyhound,
         supposed to have been used
          formerly by the Danes for chasing wolves.
      (c) A dog
         bred between a dog and a wolf, as the Eskimo
          dog.

   Wolf eel
         (Zool.), a wolf fish.

   {Wolf
         fish} (Zool.), any one of several species of large,
     
         voracious marine fishes of the genus Anarrhichas,
     
         especially the common species (Anarrhichas
         lupus) of
    
          Europe and North America. These fishes have large teeth
  
            and powerful jaws. Called also catfish, sea cat,
         sea wolf, {stone
         biter}, and swinefish.

  
         Wolf net, a kind of net
         used in fishing, which takes
         great
      numbers of fish.

   Wolf's peach (Bot.),
         the tomato, or love apple
      ({Lycopersicum
         esculentum}).

   Wolf
         spider (Zool.), any one of
         numerous species of running
      ground spiders belonging
         to the genus Lycosa, or
         family
      Lycosidae. These
         spiders run about rapidly in search of
      their prey.
         Most of them are plain brown or blackish in
      color.
         See Illust. in App.

   Zebra wolf (Zool.), a savage
         carnivorous marsupial
      (Thylacinus
         cynocephalus)
         native of Tasmania; -- called
      also {Tasmanian
         wolf}.
      [1913 Webster]