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wildebeest

wildebeest

17 7.3
A large African antelope with horns and a long hairy tail
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪldəˌbist/
: ñu
  • The wildebeest is known for its distinctively curved horns and tufted tail.
  • herd of wildebeests
  • wildebeest migration
  • wildebeest population

Examples

  • Typical lion prey such as buffalo, wildebeest, and zebra cannot survive the transformation of savanna grasslands to cropland.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Crocodiles exact a toll from a herd of wildebeests at a river crossing.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The wildebeest have to drink eventually.

  • And she runs her eyes up and down him... the way a big cat looks at a slow wildebeest.

  • A herd of giant wildebeest.

  • They're running with their friends, the wildebeest.

  • Do you want them to share the excitement of wildebeest crossing the Mara?

    Academic text (1996)
  • There were fresh wildebeest tracks and the tracks of the zebra and Tommy.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • In spite of years of observation, biologists still have much to learn about wildebeest ecology.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The perils of the drought also affect wildebeest on their age-old crossing of the Mara River.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

antelope
vswildebeest
26 2.9

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

is a specific large species with ox-like head and long tufted tail
gnu
vswildebeest
  • South African
1 9.1

A large African antelope with curved horns and a long tail

is more general about horn shape instead of specifying backward curve
Connochaetes
vswildebeest
  • South African
1 9.9

A large African antelope like a wildebeest with curved horns

is the everyday common name rather than the scientific genus

Surface Forms

wildebeest singular
wildebeests plural

Morphology

wildebeest = wild + beast (semi-transparent) = wilde + beest

The components correspond to English 'wild' + 'beast', so learners can infer it's a wild animal, but the term is a loanword naming a specific African antelope, so the exact species identity may not be predictable.

Etymology

Wildebeest comes from the Dutch and Afrikaans words wild and beest, which mean 'wild' and 'beast'. So the name literally calls it a big 'wild beast', which fits this large African antelope.