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estrous

estrous

1 9.9
A female animal's time when she is ready to mate
  • adjective
  • /ˈɛstrəs/
  • Specialized
: en celo
  • To test the possibility that estrous females were moving to the lek to avoid harassment, we needed to compare rates of sexual harassment on and off the lek.
  • estrous cycle

Examples

  • Estrogens (AmE) or oestrogen (BE) are a group of compounds named for their importance in the estrous cycle of humans and other animals.

    Blog text (1)
  • Repeatability of maximum numbers of antral follicles was very high in follicular waves of the same (0.83) and different (0.85) estrous cycles.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Follicles grow by the day 6-7 of the estrous cycle.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Differences may be due to the estrous cycle of the female at the time of testing; however, none of the studies discussed here reported this variable.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Each heifer was scanned on alternate days, from day 1 to day 9 of the successive estrous cycle.

    Academic text (2014)
  • The number of follicles for 10 representative heifers during the different follicular waves in an estrous cycle is depicted in Figure 1.

    Academic text (2014)
  • The total number of follicles during different follicular waves of the estrous cycle among different animals was consistently low (1-4), intermediate (5-8), and high (9 or above).

    Academic text (2014)
  • Each animal was subjected to ultrasound scanning on alternating days until the end of the last follicular wave of the same estrous cycle and up until the end of the first follicular wave of the subsequent estrous cycle.

    Academic text (2014)
  • In the second experiment, four lactating buffaloes were selected to count antral follicles from day 1 to day 10 of the estrous cycle and super-stimulated by using FSH hormone.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Each spring, female pandas are in estrous for only 24 to 72 hours, allowing them to mate.

Synonyms

in oestrum
vsestrous
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A female animal ready to mate and able to have babies

is about showing outward signs of reproductive readiness rather than just fertility

Antonyms

anestrous
  • Specialized
9.9

A female mammal that is not in heat or able to get pregnant

Surface Forms

estrous positive

Morphology

estrous = estrus (transparent) = estrus + ous

Standard adjectival formation from the noun 'estrus' using the productive suffix '-ous', yielding 'relating to estrus'.

Etymology

The word estrous comes from the old Greek word oistros, which meant a 'frenzy' or strong sexual urge. You can also see the same root in oestrogen, the hormone linked to the female cycle. So, estrous means a female animal is 'in heat' and showing that strong mating readiness.