Illustration of gray wolf
gray wolf
noun
: a large, broad-headed, wide-muzzled wolf (Canis lupus) that has a dense, heavy coat of usually light brown or brownish gray interspersed with black above and yellowish white below and that was formerly widely distributed throughout North America and Eurasia but is now greatly restricted to the more northerly parts of its range
The only sizable gray wolf population south of Canada and Alaska continues to roam the forest-and-lake country of northern Minnesota.—
Vic Banks
Vic BanksNote: The gray wolf has been considered a threat to livestock and people for hundreds of years and has been wiped out from most of its original range by hunting, trapping, and poisoning.
called also timber wolf
Examples of gray wolf in a Sentence
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Colorado has agreements with Utah, New Mexico and Arizona to recapture wolves that wander into those states and return them to Colorado, a move aimed at protecting the genes of the Mexican gray wolf.
—Katie Langford, Denver Post, 25 Apr. 2025
Dire wolves are also large, typically the size of the largest gray wolf populations.
—John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 7 Apr. 2025
On April 9, another gray wolf mortality was reported.
—Noël Fletcher, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
The expansion of gray wolf populations is upending California cattle operations, leading to millions of dollars in losses for ranchers, a report published Monday has found.
—Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025
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Katie Langford, Denver Post, 25 Apr. 2025
Dire wolves are also large, typically the size of the largest gray wolf populations.
—John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 7 Apr. 2025
On April 9, another gray wolf mortality was reported.
—Noël Fletcher, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
The expansion of gray wolf populations is upending California cattle operations, leading to millions of dollars in losses for ranchers, a report published Monday has found.
—Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gray wolf
Cite this Entry
“Gray wolf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gray%20wolf. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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