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Synonyms

boar

American  
[bawr, bohr] / bɔr, boʊr /

noun

  1. the uncastrated male swine.

  2. wild boar.

adjective

  1. South Midland and Southern U.S. (of animals) male, especially full-grown.

    a boar cat.
boar British  
/ bɔː /

noun

  1. an uncastrated male pig

  2. See wild boar

"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

Etymology

Origin of boar

First recorded before 1000; Middle English boor, Old English bār; cognate with Dutch beer, Old High German bêr, from unattested West Germanic baira-, perhaps akin to Welsh baedd

Compare meaning

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Vocabulary lists containing boar

"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem

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"Boar Out There" by Cynthia Rylant

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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.

The exact cause of the outbreak is still unclear, and an initial investigation has ruled out a possible leak from an animal research facility located near the first boar to be found infected.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

If you should happen to dream up a scene in which a man runs screaming around the jungle with a wild boar strapped to his head, he’s the obvious pick to pull it off.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

"Where we have problems, and where everyone in Europe has problems, is with the wild boar population, because there is overpopulation," said Higuera.

From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025

Drafted into Margo’s world, Sophie is soon shooting skeet, and then, having bought her own guns, wild boar.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2025

There was a boy in the crowd, his curly, black hair wild in the wind, riding on the back of a boar the size of a cart horse.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

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.