Wolverine
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A solitary, fierce mammal of the Mustelidae family, Gulo gulo.
"“Wish I'd been more polite to that girl,” the sheriff remarked regretfully. “ I ain't had a bite to eat since four o'clock this morning, and I'm hungry as a wolverine. … I know she'd have give me another drink of that old moonshine she has.”"
- 2 A native or resident of the American state of Michigan.
"[The term "Sucker" is] The cognomen of the Illinoians, answering to the Buckeye of Ohio, the Wolverine of Michigan, the Corn-cracker of Kentucky, &c."
- 3 stocky shaggy-coated North American carnivorous mammal wordnet
- 4 Someone associated with the University of Michigan, for example as a student, alum, or sports team member, or as a fan.
- 5 musteline mammal of northern Eurasia wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 a native or resident of Michigan wordnet
Example
More examples"The wolverine spends most of its life alone, defending the borders of its territory from individuals of the same sex."
Etymology
1619; alteration of earlier wolvering (1574), diminutive of wolver (“ravenous or savage animal; person who behaves like a wolf”) (1593), ultimately from wolf.
From wolverine.
Related phrases
More for "wolverine"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.