Ululate
verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 To howl loudly or prolongedly in lamentation or joy.
"Should I ever marry, Watson, I should hope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would prevent her from being walked off by a housekeeper when my corpse was lying within a few yards of her. It was badly stage-managed; for even the rawest investigators must be struck by the absence of the usual feminine ululation."
- 2 emit long loud cries wordnet
- 3 To produce a rapid and prolonged series of sharp noises with one's voice.
Example
More examples"Should I ever marry, Watson, I should hope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would prevent her from being walked off by a housekeeper when my corpse was lying within a few yards of her. It was badly stage-managed; for even the rawest investigators must be struck by the absence of the usual feminine ululation."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ululō, ululātus, of imitative origin. Cognate with Spanish aullar (“to howl”) and ulular (“to hoot”), and French ululer (“to howl”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.