lone wolf

noun
/ləʊn ˈwʊlf/UK/ˌloʊn ˈwʊlf/US

Etymology

Named after Chief Lone Wolf.

  1. inherited from *wĺ̥kʷos
  2. inherited from *wulfaz
  3. inherited from *wulf
  4. inherited from wulf
  5. inherited from wolf
  6. compounded as lone wolf — “lone + wolf

Definitions

  1. A wolf that is not part of a pack.

    • They knew what it meant; even Joan had heard the cry of the lone wolf hunting in the lean time of winter, and of all things sad, all things lonely, all things demoniacal, the howl of a wolf stands alone.
  2. A person who avoids the company of others

    A person who avoids the company of others; an independent or solitary person; a loner.

    • Don't be a lone wolf. Publish your results; take the world—take the nation at least—into your confidence.
    • I am a lone wolf, a solitary man, wandering through a world in which I have no part.
    • You'll never mix in. You'll be a lone wolf. I seen that right off. Wal, if a man can stand the loneliness, an' if he's quick on the draw, mebbe lone-wolfin' it is the best.
  3. A criminal who acts alone, not as part of a group.

    • [Stephen] Paddock's motives remain unclear. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo described the shooting as a "lone wolf" attack. "We have no idea what his belief system was," he said.
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. A town in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for lone wolf. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA