wolf pack
1
7.7
- noun
- Archaic
:
manada de submarinos
- The U-boats operated as a coordinated wolf pack, maximizing their chances of successfully attacking enemy convoys.
- U-boat wolf pack
Examples
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Reportedly, the effectiveness of the wolf pack strategy revolutionized submarine warfare during the conflict.
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The similarities in the screenplay that I still can't get over are the "lone wolf" and the "wolf pack" lines.
Blog text (32) -
During World War II, a German wolf pack targeted Allied shipping routes, causing significant losses.
Synonyms
320
1.0
A group of animals or people who act together
8
6.3
A group of navy ships sent from the fleet for a mission
How Coordinated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound literally combines 'wolf' (a hunting animal) + 'pack' (a group), so a B1 learner would readily infer a group that hunts or acts together. However the specific historical/military sense referring to groups of submarines attacking convoys is a metaphorical extension requiring world-knowledge; the exact referent (submarines) is not directly predictable from the constituents. Because the general group-meaning is transparent but the nautical/military sense is not fully derivable, this is rated semi-transparent.
Etymology
Wolf pack in the military comes from World War II, when groups of submarines hunted enemy ships together like a pack of wolves. These submarines worked as a unit to attack and surround ships, so wolf pack came to mean 'a group of submarines acting together'.