mewl

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English

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).

Pronunciation

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.
    • 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      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,
    • 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1844, →OCLC:
      You're a pretty clog to be tied to a man for life, you mewling, white-faced cat!
    • 2007, Kiesa Kay, Mimosa May, Tornado Alley, page 11:
      My father started rubbing and rubbing on Mittens, scruffying her fur the wrong way, and she mewled her protests.
    • 2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian:
      The neighbours’ cats stroll into my garden, mewling and hoping for a little bit of in flagrante. Honey bees brazenly assault the cherry blossom.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

mewl (plural mewls)

  1. A soft cry or whimper; an act of mewling.
    • 1995, Lídia Jorge, Natália Costa, Ronald W. Sousa, transl., The Murmuring Coast, page 89:
      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.
    • 2009, Mickey Erlach, Cruising for Bad Boys, page 61:
      I let out another moaning mewl, biting my lip as I awaited whatever he planned.
    • 2010, Chris Wooding, Malice, page 15:
      The scratching stopped, and there was another piteous mewl from behind the door.

Translations