The act of making loud, harsh wailing cries; also used to describe loud complaining or quarreling.
Present participle of 'caterwaul,' formed by adding '-ing' to the base verb. The gerund form can function as both a verb form and as a noun describing the activity itself.
In Shakespeare's time, 'caterwauling' was such a common complaint about cats at night that it became the ultimate medieval word for any noisy, dramatic behavior—kind of like how we say someone is 'making a scene' today!
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