goat

¹

[goht]

noun

1. any of numerous agile, hollow-horned ruminants of the genus Capra, of the family Bovidae, closely related to the sheep, found native in rocky and mountainous regions of the Old World, and widely distributed in domesticated varieties.

2. any of various related animals, as the Rocky Mountain goat.

3. Astronomy, Astrology.,  Goat, the constellation or sign Capricorn.

4. Also the goat a scapegoat or victim.

   When the police came, he was left behind to be the goat.

5. a licentious or lecherous man; lecher.

GOAT

²

Also the GOAT
Or G.O.A.T.

[goht, jee-oh-ey-tee]

noun

Informal.

1. greatest of all time: (used to describe or refer to a person or thing that is considered to be the best ever in a particular field, category, etc., especially in sports).

   If he hadn’t been injured, he would have been the GOAT, but he’s still a top 5 player.

   That film is indisputably GOAT—I watch it at least once a year.

goat

¹

/ ɡəʊt /

noun

1. any sure-footed agile bovid mammal of the genus Capra, naturally inhabiting rough stony ground in Europe, Asia, and N Africa, typically having a brown-grey colouring and a beard. Domesticated varieties ( C. hircus ) are reared for milk, meat, and wool

2. short for Rocky Mountain goat

3. informal,  a lecherous man

4. a bad or inferior member of any group (esp in the phrase separate the sheep from the goats )

5. short for scapegoat

6. to fool around

7. slang,  to cause annoyance to someone

Goat

²

/ ɡəʊt /

noun

1. the constellation Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac

Other Word Forms

• goatlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of goat¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English got, Old English gāt; cognate with Gothic gaits, Old Norse geit, German Geiss; akin to Latin haedus “young goat, kid”

Origin of goat²

First recorded in 1965–70; originally the name of a company founded by Muhammad Ali, who applied the term greatest of all time to himself

Word History and Origins

Origin of goat¹

Old English gāt; related to Old Norse geit, Old High German geiz, Latin haedus kid

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. get someone's goat, to anger, annoy, or frustrate a person.

   His arrogance gets my goat.

see get someone's goat; separate the sheep from the goats.

Example Sentences

“It is the same all the way through. Charming descriptions of mountain goats and ibexes! Blooming edelweiss and cute babies! This is not poetry. Where is the suffering? The torment? The thwarted dreams?”

Read more on Literature

If you must, think of ibexes instead, a fierce and agile type of goat with great spiraling horns.

Read more on Literature

Also salvaged was an astragalus, which was a knucklebone of a sheep or a goat used like a die in a game called “knucklebone.”

Read more on Literature

“We found that you could rent goats to come and eat it, and so eighteen-wheelers would turn up and spill out a flock and that would solve the problem for a while,” she said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Oatmeal thrives on dairy and non-dairy alike: almond or oat milk, a spoonful of mascarpone, dollops of ricotta or labneh, tangy flavored yogurt, a little goat cheese.

Read more on Salon