Literary notes about mewling (AI summary)
The term “mewling” is employed to evoke a sense of plaintive vulnerability and weakness in various contexts. In many passages it vividly describes the feeble cries of infants—illustrated by accounts of babies mewling (and puking) in the nurse’s arms ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5])—thereby emphasizing their fragility. At the same time, authors extend its use to characterize discontent and feebleness in older characters or even animals, as when a sulky figure is criticized for mewling like a child ([6], [7]) or when a cat’s persistent, plaintive sounds are noted ([8], [9]). Thus, whether denoting literal cries or serving as a metaphor for timidity and complaint, “mewling” enriches narrative tone and deepens character portrayal.
- At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
— from Testimony of the Sonnets as to the Authorship of the Shakespearean Plays and Poems by Jesse Johnson - At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
— from The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 2 of 9] by William Shakespeare - “First the infant, mewling and puking in its nurse’s arms.”
— from The History of Mr. Polly by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells - The suckling infant ‘mewling and puking in its mother’s arms.’
— from Lights and Shadows of New York Lifeor, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City by James Dabney McCabe - A mewling and puking infant under these conditions is a nuisance and must be brought up elsewhere.
— from France by Gordon Home - And how ungraciously he had accepted these gifts of the gods, mewling and whining like a sulky child.
— from The Master; a Novel by Israel Zangwill - My lord, do you have any defense to set forth in favor of this mewling
— from The Trial of Callista Blake by Edgar Pangborn - There was a silence set with small sounds, over which the continued mewling of the cat.
— from The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt - ‘You’re a pretty clog to be tied to a man for life, you mewling, white-faced cat!
— from Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
