ibex

[ ahy-beks ]

noun,plural i·bex·es, ib·i·ces [ib-uh-seez, ahy-buh-], /ˈɪb əˌsiz, ˈaɪ bə-/, (especially collectively) i·bex.
  1. any of several wild goats of the genus Capra, inhabiting mountainous regions of Eurasia and North Africa, having long, recurved horns.

Origin of ibex

1
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1600–10

Words Nearby ibex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ibex in a sentence

  • Iron age petroglyphs of the animals are etched across their habitat range in central and southern Asia, including one in Kyrgyzstan that appears to show nomads using a tame snow leopard to hunt ibex.

  • After years of wearing the Icebreaker Tiki bra, I made the switch to the ibex Balance Crop bra—a step up in terms of support and technical design.

  • I saw several ibex heads nailed up over the doors of houses.

    War in the Garden of Eden | Kermit Roosevelt
  • He peopled the hills with anything they had a mind to slay—thar, ibex, or markhor, and bear by Elisha's allowance.

    Kim | Rudyard Kipling
  • Only after sun-down do the ibex descend, and never, even then, so far as timber-line.

    Unexplored Spain | Abel Chapman
  • At this period the surviving ibex had fallen to a mere handful.

    Unexplored Spain | Abel Chapman
  • At that season (April to May) the ibex are changing their coats.

    Unexplored Spain | Abel Chapman

British Dictionary definitions for ibex

ibex

/ (ˈaɪbɛks) /


nounplural ibexes, ibices (ˈɪbɪˌsiːz, ˈaɪ-) or ibex
  1. any of three wild goats, Capra ibex, C. caucasica, or C. pyrenaica, of mountainous regions of Europe, Asia, and North Africa, having large backward-curving horns

Origin of ibex

1
C17: from Latin: chamois

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012