Definition of "prowl"

prowl

/pɹaʊl/

verb
third-person singular simple present prowls, present participle prowling, simple past and past participle prowled
1. (transitive, intransitive) To rove over, through, or about in a stealthy manner; especially, to search in, as for prey or booty.
  Quotations
  He prowls each place, still in new colours decked.
  a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912,
  While McCarthy prowled the touchline barking orders, his opposite number watched on motionless and expressionless and, with 25 minutes to go, decided to throw on Nicolas Anelka for Kalou.
  2011 January 5, Mark Ashenden, “Wolverhampton 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC‎
2. (intransitive) To idle; to go about aimlessly.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To collect by plunder.
noun
plural prowls
1. (colloquial) The act of prowling.