howl

bay at the moon

To make appeals in vain. Good luck talking to the principal, but I think you'll just be baying at the moon—I doubt you'll get a better grade.
See also: bay, moon

howl (one) down

To voice displeasure (as by booing) for a performer or performers to the extent that they decide to leave the stage. Are you sure you want to perform at that rowdy club? The crowd there is known to howl people down.
See also: down, howl

howl at (someone or something)

1. Of an animal, to make a howling sound at someone or something. Oh geez, the dog's howling at a raccoon or something in the bushes.
2. To laugh uproariously at someone or something. His opening monologue went really well—the audience howled at every joke.
3. To yell at someone or something. Mom really howled at me when she found out that I got a D in biology this semester.
See also: howl

howl in pain

To wail or yell because one is feeling pain. Sally twisted her ankle and fell to the ground, howling in pain.
See also: howl, pain

howl like a banshee

To scream, howl, or screech in a very loud, high-pitched, and unsettling manner. Some animal has been howling like a banshee in the alleyway all night long. Kids, stop howling like a banshees back there! I need to focus on driving and I can barely hear myself think!
See also: banshee, howl, like

howl out

1. To let out a loud cry, wail, or shout. The child began howling out in pain after the doctor gave him the tetanus shot. The sound of the mob of protestors howling out in anger echoed through the streets of the city.
2. To utter or express something in a long, intense cry or shout. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "howl" and "out." Tom howled out his despair after he came home to find that his wife had left him. The crowd howled their frustrations out after the referee awarded the point to the opposing team.
See also: howl, out

howl with (something)

To emphatically respond to some stimulus in a particular manner (named after "with"). His opening monologue must have gone really well—we could hear the audience howling with laughter. Sally twisted her ankle and fell to the ground, howling with pain.
See also: howl

howl with laughter

To laugh uproariously. His opening monologue must have gone really well—we could hear the audience howling with laughter.
See also: howl, laughter

howl with pain

To wail or yell because one is feeling pain. Sally twisted her ankle and fell to the ground, howling with pain.
See also: howl, pain

let out (some sound)

To utter some loud, forceful sound. I let out a shriek when the dog suddenly jumped on me. The lion let out an intimidating roar.
See also: let, out
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

howl at someone or something

 
1. Lit. [for a canine] to bay at someone or something. The dog howls at me when I play the trumpet. The wolves howled at the moon and created a terrible uproar.
2. and hoot at someone or something Fig. to yell out at someone or something. The audience howled at the actors and upset them greatly. We hooted at the singer until he stopped.
3. Fig. to laugh very hard at someone or something. Everyone just howled at Tom's joke. I howled at the story Alice told.
See also: howl

howl someone down

 and hoot someone down
Fig. to yell at or boo someone's performance; to force someone to stop talking by yelling or booing. The audience howled the inept magician down. They howled down the musician.
See also: down, howl

howl with something

to yell or holler because of something, such as pain. Roger howled with pain as the needle went into his arm. Mary howled with grief when she saw what had happened to her roses.
See also: howl
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

bay at the moon

or

howl at the moon

LITERARY
If you bay at the moon or howl at the moon, you waste your time and energy trying to do something which is impossible or trying to get something which you cannot have. You're looking for the perfect man and he doesn't exist. You're baying at the moon.
See also: bay, moon
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

bay at the moon

clamour or make an outcry to no effect.
The barking of dogs at a full moon has been a metaphor for futile activity since the mid 17th century.
See also: bay, moon
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

howl

1. n. something funny. What a howl the surprise party turned out to be when the guest of honor didn’t show up.
2. in. to laugh very hard. Everybody howled at my mistake.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • bay at the moon
  • bark at the moon
  • you'll catch your death
  • you'll catch your death (of cold)
  • go all out
  • go all out for something
  • you'll never guess
  • from Missouri, I'm
  • all better
  • (one) should be so lucky
References in periodicals archive
To call in established-order literary experts to determine the worth of and otherwise validate a piece of writing, as in the "Howl" trial, is in itself frightful, 1984-ish, and revealing of the real Beatnik mindset and endeavor.
Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression
While Howl Griff is on tour now, Gogs will get the chance to hear the album at the tour's final two dates next month.
gog SOUND; cinema/music
The Howl trial in 1957 was the first of these, the second was the Lady Chatterley's Lover case in 1960, and the third was the Tropic of Cancer decision in 1961.
Echoes of Howl
"Howl"--far from being good in its own right (and this from its admirers !)--seems to serve two more advanced ends.
Jason Shinder, editor: The Poem That Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later
"Howl" runs a little long, winding up several times without coming to a real climax.
Serious fantasy: 'Howl's Moving Castle' entrances; 'Batman Begins' tries a little too hard
''Howl's Moving Castle'' is the most recent full-length feature from Studio Ghibli, the Tokyo-based animation production company co-founded by Miyazaki.
Miyazaki's 'Howl's Moving Castle' debuts in American theaters
And what kind of sound could possibly be as reverential as the howl of a bugle?
Bugle call rag ..
We howl about the fractured nature of journalism organizations and their general unwillingness to work together in an ongoing, consistent way to address all kinds of industry ills.
Solutions for journalism, society require action: we can't wait until tomorrow to solve the profession's problems
Nineteen-year-old artist and activist Stefan Christoff conceived of HOWL two years ago.
The Howl festival of art and revolution: Youth and tradition
Norman Podhoretz dismissed Ginsberg and the Beat movement that he led as "Know-Nothing Bohemians," and the State of California prosecuted Lawrence Ferlinghetti for publishing Ginsberg's poem, "Howl," in a City Lights edition.
Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript and Variant Versions, Fully Annotated by Author, with Contemporaneous Correspondence, Account of First Public Readings, Legal Skirmishes, Precursor Texts and Bibliography
Howl Poem in three sections by Ginsberg, Allen, published in Howl and Other Poems in 1956.
Howl
The publication of Howl was surrounded by sensationalism.
Howl and Other Poems
Damian Howl, 42, was discovered injured in an alleyway off Heath Lane, near Hill Top, at around 5.15am on Wednesday.
Murder charge as tributes paid; NEWS BRIEFING
Writer and ECHO columnist Ken Rogers and producer Mike Howl are aiming to capture the folklore of the 1960s slum clearance era that all but wiped out the tightly-packed terraced houses of Everton and its famous neighbour, Scotland Road.
Could you join the Lost Tribe?
Why does my dog howl? Some breeds are hard-wired to howl, such as the hound types, Huskies and Malamutes.
All mouth & trousers