cat·er·waul / ˈkatərˌwôl/ • v. [intr.] [often as n.] (caterwauling) (of a cat) make a shrill howling or wailing noise: the caterwauling of a pair of bobcats | [as adj.] (caterwauling) fig. a caterwauling guitar. • n. a shrill howling or wailing noise.

caterwaul XIV. One of a group of cogn. formations of which the earliest is caterwawed caterwauling, a noun of action with -ed, repr. OE. -að. The first el. is to be identified with CAT, but it is doubtful whether it is rel. to or — LG., Du. kater male cat, or whether the -er- is merely an arbitrary connective syll.; the second el. appears variously as -w(r)awe, -wall (XVI), etc.