meow

American

[mee-ou, myou] / miˈaʊ, myaʊ /

Sometimes miaou,

noun

the characteristic sound a cat makes.
a spiteful or catty remark.

verb (used without object)

to make the sound of a cat.
to make a spiteful or catty remark.

meow British

/ mjaʊl, mjaʊ, mɪˈaʊl, mɪˈaʊ /

verb

(intr) (of a cat) to make a characteristic crying sound

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

interjection

an imitation of this sound

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of meow

First recorded in 1870–75; imitative

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They examined vocalizations from both domestic and wild cats and found that domestication has especially increased how much a cat's meow can vary.

From Science Daily • Feb. 11, 2026

He would eat and then meow to leave.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025

"She's super tiny, her breath smells so bad, and she doesn't have a meow," the singer dotes.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2025

Research has shown that cats meow primarily when in the presence of humans, suggesting that we can’t help but skew the app’s inputs, while some cats rarely vocalize at all.

From Slate • Nov. 13, 2023

He was a kitten, With a meow Like the rusty latch On a gate.

From "Neighborhood Odes" by Gary Soto

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023