Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Und.) to steal.

1889-90		Barrere & Leland Sl., Jargon & Cant.
1913		M.B. Lowndes Lodger 204: When the man had at last gone off, it was found that he had ‘wolfed’ young master’s best walking-stick.

2. (US, also wolf it) usu. of a man, to pursue sexually, but note cite 1946; thus wolfing n.

1929		Phila. Inquirer 16 June n.p.: ‘To “wolf” or to “chisel” is to poach on what one should consider sacred to one’s neighbor,’ says the writer. ‘Usually it refers to the depradations committed by a stag at a prom at the expense of a man who is entertaining a young lady. To set with the purpose of doing some “high-class wolfing” is a plan with malice aforethought to lure some alluring female from the protection of her official escort.’.
1940		J.H. O’Hara Pal Joey 105: I give with the vocals and wolf around in a nite club.
1946		E. Wilson Pikes Peek or Bust 7: [D]ames are far worse wolves than men, especially the married dames. Some married babes wolf just for the love of wolfing. I know one who goes up to a strange man and announces, ‘I want you!’.
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 84: The best place for wolfin’ ain’t the taverns.
1952		W.R. Burnett Vanity Row 232: ‘[A] smart lawyer is going to show in court that Hobart had been wolfing it on the Row for years’.
1956		I. Shulman Good Deeds Must Be Punished 92: Lets go uptown tonight. Do some wolfing.
1974		(con. 1940s) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 161: A kid dressed up in his big brother’s uniform out wolfin chicks.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 421: We also have the verb to wolf (here meaning ‘to seduce’ rather than ‘to gobble down food’).

3. see wolf-whistle v.