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waterbuck

waterbuck

1 9.5
A large African animal like a deer that lives near water with long curved horns and shaggy brown fur
  • noun
  • /ˈwɔːtərˌbʌk/
  • South African
: antílope de agua
  • The waterbuck sought refuge in the water, and a two-hour stalemate ensued.
  • waterbuck and kudu
  • waterbuck and impala
  • waterbuck and buffalo

Examples

  • All of a sudden, a male waterbuck came charging out of the trees in a panic-driven flight.

    Academic text (1999)
  • All of a sudden, a male waterbuck came charging out of the trees in a panic-driven flight.

  • The waterbuck turned around and put his horns to the ground to protect himself, but he gave up and fled.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Waterbuck.

  • The numbers of waterbucks, zebra, and hippos were reduced by almost 95 percent.

    Academic text (2005)
  • PHOTO (COLOR): Shooting with long lens from roof of vehicle. PHOTO (COLOR): Defassa Waterbuck, Lake Nakuru.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Robert turns to look out the window and sees: a herd of giraffes, gazelles, waterbucks, and zebra running in the grasslands to the right of the truck.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Because the delta region had been a zone of massive flooding and silt, its abundant supplies of fresh water and food attracted a wide array of zebras, elephants, waterbucks, hippopotami, and water buffalo.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Early one morning last September, in Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, a Defassa waterbuck went to drink from a watering hole.

Synonyms

antelope
vswaterbuck
26 2.9

An animal with long legs and curved horns that runs fast in Africa and Asia

is a single large African species that lives near water and has shaggy fur

Surface Forms

waterbuck singular
waterbucks plural

Morphology

waterbuck = water + buck (transparent) = water + buck

The compound is a straightforward combination of 'water' + 'buck' denoting an antelope associated with water; the meaning is directly inferable from the parts.

Etymology

Waterbuck is made of water and buck, and buck means 'male deer or antelope'. That's because this African antelope often stays near water, so its name shows where it lives.