The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CATERWAUL
Definition of CATERWAUL
verb
To cry as cats in heat; to make a harsh, offensive noise.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
CATERWAUL carries 4 further meanings.
intransitive verb
To cry or screech like a cat in heat.
intransitive verb
To make a shrill, discordant sound.
intransitive verb
To have a noisy argument.
noun
A shrill, discordant sound.
Where it comes from
From Middle English caterwrawen, from cater (“cat”) + wrawen, wrawlen (“cry like a cat”), equivalent to cat + waul. Compare Low German katerwaulen (“to cry like a cat”) and Middle Dutch cater (“tomcat”) (Dutch kater).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Middle English
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
4th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
7.6%
of traced words share this origin (2,231)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CATERWAUL · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names German, Middle Dutch.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CATERWAUL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 45 boards so far. 159 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 25, 14 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CATERWAUL starts with C and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read AACELRTUW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of CATERWAUL. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Words that start CATERW
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found CATERWAUL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER