"mewl" meaning in English

See mewl in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈmjuːl/ [Canada, UK] Forms: mewls [plural]
Rhymes: -uːl Etymology: From 1599 or earlier (1530 in a Scottish document), apparently from Shakespeare with this spelling. Perhaps from Middle English mewen (“to whimper”) + -le (frequentative suffix). Etymology templates: {{der|en|enm|mewen#Verb_2|t=to whimper}} Middle English mewen (“to whimper”), {{suffix|en||-le|pos2=frequentative suffix}} + -le (frequentative suffix) Head templates: {{en-noun}} mewl (plural mewls)
  1. A soft cry or whimper; an act of mewling. Translations (soft cry or whimper): mňoukání [neuter] (Czech), kňourání [neuter] (Czech), ininä (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-mewl-en-noun-JG1AX9Fp

Verb

IPA: /ˈmjuːl/ [Canada, UK] Forms: mewls [present, singular, third-person], mewling [participle, present], mewled [participle, past], mewled [past]
Rhymes: -uːl Etymology: From 1599 or earlier (1530 in a Scottish document), apparently from Shakespeare with this spelling. Perhaps from Middle English mewen (“to whimper”) + -le (frequentative suffix). Etymology templates: {{der|en|enm|mewen#Verb_2|t=to whimper}} Middle English mewen (“to whimper”), {{suffix|en||-le|pos2=frequentative suffix}} + -le (frequentative suffix) Head templates: {{en-verb}} mewl (third-person singular simple present mewls, present participle mewling, simple past and past participle mewled)
  1. To cry weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound; to whimper; to whine. Derived forms: mewler Translations (to cry weakly): mňoukat [imperfective] (Czech), kňourat [imperfective] (Czech), inistä (Finnish), pleurnicher (French), geindre (French), wimmern (German), quäken (German), хныкать (xnykatʹ) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-mewl-en-verb-Hsw9LcVC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -le, Entries with translation boxes, Middle English links with manual fragments, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Russian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 21 79 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -le: 32 68 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 31 69 Disambiguation of Middle English links with manual fragments: 29 71 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 22 78 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 27 73 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 20 80

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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          "ref": "c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):",
          "text": "And one man in his time plays many parts, / His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, / Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms; / Then the whining school-boy, […]",
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          "ref": "1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:",
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          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Kiesa Kay, Mimosa May, Tornado Alley, page 11:",
          "text": "My father started rubbing and rubbing on Mittens, scruffying her fur the wrong way, and she mewled her protests.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "The neighbours’ cats stroll into my garden, mewling and hoping for a little bit of in flagrante. Honey bees brazenly assault the cherry blossom.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        "To cry weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound; to whimper; to whine."
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          "whimper"
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          "whine"
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          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to cry weakly",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "mňoukat"
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          "code": "cs",
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          "sense": "to cry weakly",
          "word": "inistä"
        },
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          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to cry weakly",
          "word": "pleurnicher"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to cry weakly",
          "word": "geindre"
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          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to cry weakly",
          "word": "wimmern"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to cry weakly",
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          "roman": "xnykatʹ",
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        }
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    {
      "homophone": "mule"
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  "word": "mewl"
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          "ref": "1995, Lídia Jorge, Natália Costa, Ronald W. Sousa, transl., The Murmuring Coast, page 89:",
          "text": "There would have been total silence if it hadn't been for the sea nearby, mewling. Indeed, that same mewl added to the sleepy image that filled the dormant house.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Mickey Erlach, Cruising for Bad Boys, page 61:",
          "text": "I let out another moaning mewl, biting my lip as I awaited whatever he planned.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Chris Wooding, Malice, page 15:",
          "text": "The scratching stopped, and there was another piteous mewl from behind the door.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "A soft cry or whimper; an act of mewling."
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      "id": "en-mewl-en-noun-JG1AX9Fp",
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          "code": "cs",
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          "sense": "soft cry or whimper",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "mňoukání"
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          "code": "cs",
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          "ref": "c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):",
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        {
          "ref": "1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:",
          "text": "You're a pretty clog to be tied to a man for life, you mewling, white-faced cat!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Kiesa Kay, Mimosa May, Tornado Alley, page 11:",
          "text": "My father started rubbing and rubbing on Mittens, scruffying her fur the wrong way, and she mewled her protests.",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "The neighbours’ cats stroll into my garden, mewling and hoping for a little bit of in flagrante. Honey bees brazenly assault the cherry blossom.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "To cry weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound; to whimper; to whine."
      ],
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        "UK"
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    },
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    },
    {
      "homophone": "mule"
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    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "mňoukat"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "kňourat"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "word": "inistä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "word": "pleurnicher"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "word": "geindre"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "word": "wimmern"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "word": "quäken"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "xnykatʹ",
      "sense": "to cry weakly",
      "word": "хныкать"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mewl"
}

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    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
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      "name": "der"
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  "etymology_text": "From 1599 or earlier (1530 in a Scottish document), apparently from Shakespeare with this spelling. Perhaps from Middle English mewen (“to whimper”) + -le (frequentative suffix).",
  "forms": [
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        {
          "ref": "1995, Lídia Jorge, Natália Costa, Ronald W. Sousa, transl., The Murmuring Coast, page 89:",
          "text": "There would have been total silence if it hadn't been for the sea nearby, mewling. Indeed, that same mewl added to the sleepy image that filled the dormant house.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Mickey Erlach, Cruising for Bad Boys, page 61:",
          "text": "I let out another moaning mewl, biting my lip as I awaited whatever he planned.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Chris Wooding, Malice, page 15:",
          "text": "The scratching stopped, and there was another piteous mewl from behind the door.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A soft cry or whimper; an act of mewling."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmjuːl/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːl"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "mule"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "soft cry or whimper",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "mňoukání"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "soft cry or whimper",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "kňourání"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "soft cry or whimper",
      "word": "ininä"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mewl"
}

Download raw JSONL data for mewl meaning in English (6.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.