мяукает

In a sentence

• Кошка громко мяукает, когда хочет есть.

  The cat meows loudly when it wants to eat.

  In this sentence, "мяукает" indicates the action of meowing performed by the cat to express its desire to eat.

• Ребёнок говорит, что игрушечный кот тоже мяукает.

  The child says that the toy cat also meows.

  Here, "мяукает" is used to depict the simulated action of meowing attributed to a toy cat in the child's perspective.

• На улице было тихо, слышно лишь как котёнок мяукает.

  Outside it was quiet, only the kitten meowing could be heard.

  In this example, "мяукает" describes the meowing sound of the kitten as the singular audible element in the scene.