catcall
English
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
catcall¹
- /ˈkætkɔl/ US
Where it comes from
First attested in the mid-17th c., from the resemblance to cats' nocturnal cries. From cat + call.
noun catcalls · cat-call
- A shout or whistle expressing dislike, especially from a crowd or audience; a jeer, a boo. There, amid the curses and catcalls of sweaty beer drinkers, the tour's headliners are set to engage in a hallowed feminist ritual:
- A shout, whistle, or comment of a harassingly sexual nature, usually made toward a passing woman, causing distress and trauma. In the Room for Debate forum Stopping Street Harassment, the editors ask four people to weigh in on the question, Should current laws dealing with harassment be strengthened to include catcalling, or will that go too far in controlling speech and behavior? (A catcall in this context is defined as “a
- A whistle blown by a theatre-goer to express disapproval. At what period was the custom of blowing catcalls at the theatre discontinued?
verb catcalls · catcalling · catcalled · cat-call
- To make such an exclamation. When Susan Seligson thinks about breasts — and, since she’s a DDD-endowed (touché) middle-aged woman who’s been groped and catcalled her whole life, that’s often, too — she thinks about ... her own DDDs.
catcall²
- /ˈkætkɔl/ US
Where it comes from
Short for change availability or type + call.
noun catcalls
- In the Eiffel programming language, a run-time error caused by use of the wrong data type. Java does not let you make members more private than they are in parent classes, so has no catcall problem for changing availability. Thus to avoid catcalls with export problems, you should adopt a once-public, always-public policy.
Translations
Every language
noun shout or whistle expressing dislike
| Español | rechifla, abucheo |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 噓聲 /嘘声 xūshēng |
| Português | apupo (boo), assobiadela, vaia |
| Deutsch | Buhruf, Schmähruf, Pfiff, Auspfeifen, Ausbuhen |
| Русский | освистывание osvistyvanije |
noun shout, whistle, or comment of a sexual nature
| Español | piropo |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 性騷擾呼喊 /性骚扰呼喊 xìngsāorǎo hūhǎn |
| Português | piropo |
| Deutsch | Hinterherpfeifen, Nachpfeifen |
| Русский | приставание pristavanije |
verb make such an exclamation
| Español | rechiflar, abuchear, piropear, cuerdear, chulear |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 噓罵 /嘘骂 |
| Deutsch | buhen, ausbuhen, pfeifen, auspfeifen, nachpfeifen |
| Русский | освистать osvistatʹ, освистывать osvistyvatʹ |
Talk about this word "catcall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/catcall. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. catcall. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/catcall "catcall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/catcall.Cite this
@misc{catcall_2026,
title = {catcall},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/catcall},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
