hartebeest
Americannoun
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hartebeests,
plural
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hartebeest
plural
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any large African antelope of the genus Alcelaphus, having ringed horns that curve backward: some species are endangered.
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any of several related African antelopes, as certain species of the genus Damaliscus.
noun
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either of two large African antelopes, Alcelaphus buselaphus or A. lichtensteini, having an elongated muzzle, lyre-shaped horns, and a fawn-coloured coat
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any similar and related animal, such as Damaliscus hunteri ( Hunter's hartebeest )
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hartebeest
From Afrikaans, dating back to 1780–90; see origin at hart, beast
Vocabulary lists containing hartebeest
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Warthogs, wild dogs and horse-like antelopes known as hartebeest frequently wind up as road kill.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2019
I scanned the long, high-ceilinged room and located the spot with the closest penguin views: front-right corner, by the Hunter’s hartebeest.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 26, 2016
"I shot a nice red hartebeest," Jerry Emhoff, a resident of Watervliet, Michigan, said of one day's hunting.
From US News ● Sep. 2, 2015
Environmental change and rates of evolution: the phylogeographic pattern within the hartebeest complex as related to climatic variation.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 26, 2014
He was a keen sportsman, and was anxious as he came down-country to secure the heads of the gemsbok and hartebeest, two large desert-loving antelopes, not found in Mashonaland.
From From Veldt Camp Fires by H.A. Bryden
Driven by drought, a procession of game in stretched, incredible battalions passes the tents on the Serengetti plains—first zebras, then hartebeests, buck, cheetahs, gazelles, giraffes, rhinos, wild dogs, all superbly photographed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Giraffes, hyenas and baboons abounded, along with now extinct giant horses and hartebeests and buffalo with 13-ft. horn spans.
From Time Magazine Archive
Herds of eland, hartebeests, gnu, and other game, stood on the slopes afar off, and looked down on the dark masses of men standing still in grim silence after their desperate struggle.
From Kafir Stories Seven Short Stories by W. C. (William Charles) Scully
We have, however, still herds of antelopes of all kinds, springboks, gemsboks, elands, koodoos, hartebeests, and gnus.
From Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand by H.C. Adams
Ungainly hartebeests, and topi whose skins had the sheen of satin, ran with smooth speed.
From A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open by Theodore Roosevelt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
