caterwaul

****************************************************************
The Web's biggest language site is getting bigger! Check out the
new features in Merriam-Webster Unabridged with a free preview today!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for October 4 is: 

caterwaul   \KAT-er-wawl\   verb
    *1 : to make a harsh cry
     2 : to protest or complain noisily 

Example sentence:
     "Just before sunrise, barred owls hooted, screamed and caterwauled in the 
distance." (Chris Young, _The State Journal-Register_ [Springfield, IL], April 
9, 2005)

Did you know?
     An angry (or amorous) cat can make a lot of noise. As long ago as the 
mid-1300s, English speakers were using "caterwaul" for the act of voicing 
feline passions. The "cater" part is, of course, connected to the cat, but 
scholars disagree about whether it traces to the Middle Dutch "cater," meaning 
"tomcat," or if it is really just "cat" with an "-er" added. The "waul" is 
probably imitative in origin; it represents the feline howl itself. English's 
first "caterwaul" was a verb focused on feline vocalizations, but by the 1600s 
it was also being used for noisy people or things. By the 1700s it had become a 
noun naming any sound as loud and grating as a tomcat's yowl.