oryx
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of oryx
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English orix, from Latin oryx “wild goat, gazelle,” from Greek óryx “iron tool for digging, pickax, gazelle, antelope” (from its sharp horns)
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:
Mr. Mays maintained a ranch near Spring Branch, Tex., where he kept exotic animals including zebras, kudus, oryx and bongos.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 15, 2022
The haul included some extinct animals, such as the scimitar oryx, and endangered species like lions, cheetahs and the Bengal tiger.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2022
She writes: “Try pronouncing it three times, thus: Oryx oryx oryx. Crake crake crake. You see?”
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2022
Przewalski’s horse and the Arabian oryx are among successful examples.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2022
The moment was a critical one; should the paauw have taken alarm and flown, the oryx would undoubtedly have galloped straight out towards the plains as fast as his strong legs could carry him.
From Lodges in the Wilderness by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)
In the 1990s, he even introduced a herd of scimitar-horned oryxes, as part of a conservation effort to protect the endangered Saharan antelope.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
And the oryxes, and the Barbary sheep, and the Przewalski’s horses, the giraffes, the dromedary camels and a variety of other hoofed mammals.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Among the representatives of vanishing species there were Mongolian wild horses, scimitar-horned oryxes, maned wolves, red-crowned and white-naped cranes, Bali mynas, black-footed ferrets, clouded leopards, Eld’s deer and cheetahs.
From New York Times ● Jul. 8, 2013
The Arizona Air National Guard, happy to boost the home state, flew a C-97 cargo plane to pick up the oryxes, which had been shipped to New Jersey.
From Time Magazine Archive
They are Arabian oryxes, some of the world's rarest animals, and if they thrive in the desert climate of Arizona, they may live to be the only oryxes left on earth.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
