Caterwauling is a very interesting word that may not be familiar to some people. The origin of “caterwaul” comes from the Middle Dutch term “cater” which means tomcat and the Middle English term “waul”, which means to yowl.
A caterwaul is different from a meow or a purr. It is a shrill and often loud vocalization made by a cat. Some cats sound like they are crying out in pain and most people find this vocalization very unpleasant. When the noise is repeated over and over again in a short period of time, it is referred to as caterwauling.
