black-tailed deer
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- noun
- /blæk-teɪld dɪr/
- Specialized
:
ciervo de cola negra
- Elk and mountain lions are nearby in the woods, as are coyotes, beavers, river otters, and black-tailed deer.
- killed a black-tailed deer
Examples
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Three black-tailed deer were working their way along the edge of the forest.
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You are sure to find wildlife wandering this area, such as black-tailed deer, raccoons, and lots of birds.
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Former city administrator and avid outdoorsman Hugh Bevan captured this image of a Sitka black-tailed deer on his trail camera.
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While hiking along the trail, we spotted a black-tailed deer grazing peacefully in the meadow.
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At dawn, a black-tailed deer emerged from the trees, showcasing its distinctive black-tipped tail.
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Naturalists often observe black-tailed deer in the coastal areas of Oregon and California during the summer months.
Synonyms
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8.7
A type of deer with a black-tipped tail found in western mountains
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A deer that lives in western North America and has a black tail
A deer with a black tail that lives in forests of the western mountains
Surface Forms
Morphology
black-tailed + deer
The noun is compositionally built from an adjective describing tail colour and the head noun 'deer', so a learner who knows 'black', 'tail' and 'deer' will readily infer 'a deer with a black (or black-tipped) tail'. Although 'black-tailed' appears as a hyphenated form, the adjective+noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The name black-tailed deer comes from the animal's most obvious mark: a black tip on its tail. So the name simply describes a western 'kind of mule deer' and helps you picture which deer people mean.