wolf (redirected from held a wolf by the ears)

cry wolf

to ask for help when you do not need it, with the result that no one believes you when help is necessary. She had repeatedly rung the police for trivial reasons and perhaps she had cried wolf too often.

See also: cry

keep the wolf from the door

to have enough money to be able to eat and live. Forty percent of the country's population receive part-time wages that barely keep the wolf from the door.

See also: door, from, keep

a lone wolf

a person who prefers to do things on their own. The typical role for Bogart was the Casablanca character, a lone wolf, cynical but heroic.

See also: lone

a wolf in sheep's clothing

someone who seems to be pleasant and friendly but is in fact dangerous or evil. My next boss, on the surface very warm and charming, proved to be something of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

a wolf whistle

a whistle (= high sound that is made by blowing air through the lips) that some men do when they see a woman who is sexually attractive. She'll get a few wolf whistles if she walks through town in those shorts.

See also: whistle

wolf-whistle someone (British & Australian)

a wolf whistle - a whistle (= high sound that is made by blowing air through the lips) that some men do when they see a woman who is sexually attractive. I was wolf-whistled by a group of builders as I crossed the street.

---

cry wolf

to ask for help when you do not need it. Growers who cry wolf today about the lack of water will probably be selling their vegetables in a few months. He said the mayor's grim predictions about what would happen if the bill isn't passed amounted to crying wolf.

Etymology: from the children's story “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” in which a boy who was watching some sheep called for help when there was no wolf (= wild animal) attacking them and then got no help when a wolf did attack the sheep because no one believed him

See also: cry

a wolf in sheep's clothing

someone or something that seems to be good but is actually bad. The financial advisor we hired turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing who stole from the people he promised to help.