wild ox
- noun
:
buey salvaje
- In India, the wild ox known as the gaur is revered for its strength and size.
- wild ox and wild boar
- Even the wild ox
Examples
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Many wild ox species are now protected to prevent them from becoming extinct.
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"These wild oxen once roamed Earth freely."
Academic text (2000) -
The gaur, a large species of wild ox, can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
Synonyms
6
1.0
A large wild or domestic animal in the cow family often used for heavy work
2
6.0
A large shaggy animal like a cow with curved horns that lives in the far north
A large wild animal like a big cow that lives in Asian forests and grasslands
A very large wild animal like an ox that lived long ago and later became farm cows
A very large wild ox from Europe that is now extinct and an ancestor of domestic cattle
A large ox from Southeast Asia kept by people for work
A large shaggy mammal like an ox or sheep that lives in the Arctic tundra, often called the musk ox
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a large, undomesticated bovine' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'wild' (not tamed) + 'ox' (a large bovine), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the phrase. This adjective+noun combination follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern for describing animals, making the MWE clearly transparent.
Etymology
The compound noun wild ox comes from the clear image of wild and ox together: picture a large ox living free in the countryside and not tamed. So it means 'a big ox that lives in the wild and is not tamed'.