wild ass
1
7.4
- noun
- /waɪld æs/
:
asno salvaje
- The Tibetan wild ass, or kiang, is a remarkable animal that thrives in high-altitude areas.
- Asiatic wild ass
Examples
-
Her wild ass?
-
Wild-ass
-
The African wild ass is known for its ability to adapt to harsh desert conditions.
-
In the remote mountains, we spotted a group of wild asses grazing freely.
Antonyms
- Specialized
2
1.1
An animal people keep and breed to live with them or help them
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'wild' (untamed) with 'ass' (a donkey), so a learner who knows both words will infer an untamed donkey. This adjective+animal compounding pattern is common across languages and in English, and any slang sense of 'ass' would be resolved by the animal context.
Etymology
The noun wild ass comes from the plain image of a wild ass, that is an untamed donkey living free on open plains, so people used the two words together to name the animal. That's why it means 'a large, untamed hoofed animal related to horses'.