mewl
/ˈmjuːl/ verb, noun
Forms mewls mewling mewled
- verb To cry weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound; to whimper; to whine.
- noun A soft cry or whimper; an act of mewling.
Synonyms
Etymology
From 1599 or earlier (1530 in a Scottish document), apparently from Shakespeare with this spelling. Perhaps from Middle English mewen (“to whimper”) + -le (frequentative suffix).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Cf. F. miauler to mew, E. mew to cry as a cat. Cf. Miaul.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mewl”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details