babirusa

American  

[bab-uh-roo-suh, bah-buh-] / ˌbæb əˈru sə, ˌbɑ bə- /

Or babiroussa,

noun

1. an East Indian swine, Babyrousa babyrussa, the male of which has upper canine teeth growing upward through the roof of the mouth and curving toward the eyes, and lower canine teeth growing upward outside the upper jaw.

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babirusa British  

/ ˌbɑːbɪˈruːsə /

noun

1. a wild pig, Babyrousa babyrussa , inhabiting marshy forests in Indonesia. It has an almost hairless wrinkled skin and enormous curved canine teeth

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Etymology

Origin of babirusa

1690–1700; < Malay, equivalent to babi pig + rusa deer

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

babirusa

Owens said babirusa meant "pig-deer" in Malay because of their distinctive look.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Chester Zoo conservationists are working with partners to protect wild babirusa populations through the Action Indonesia Global Species Management Plans.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Rana - a babirusa known as a "pig-deer" - has been described as a "lifeline for the species" which is in rapid decline in the wild.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

In 2014, Dr. Aubert and his colleagues dated the age of a flowstone that covered a picture of a pig-like animal called a babirusa in a cave in Sulawesi.

From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2018

On this latter view we may regard the tusks of the male babirusa as examples of redundant development, analogous to that of the single pair of lower teeth in some of the beaked whales.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" by Various

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