goat

¹ American  

[goht] / goʊt /

noun

1. any of numerous agile, hollow-horned ruminants of the genus Capra, of the family Bovidae, closely related to the sheep, found native in rocky and mountainous regions of the Old World, and widely distributed in domesticated varieties.

2. any of various related animals, as the Rocky Mountain goat.

3. Astronomy, Astrology. Goat, the constellation or sign Capricorn.

4. Also the goat a scapegoat or victim.

   When the police came, he was left behind to be the goat.

5. a licentious or lecherous man; lecher.

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idioms

1. get someone's goat, to anger, annoy, or frustrate a person.

   His arrogance gets my goat.

GOAT ² American  

[goht, jee-oh-ey-tee] / goʊt, ˈdʒiˈoʊˈeɪˈti /

Also the GOAT or G.O.A.T.

noun

Informal.

1. greatest of all time: (used to describe or refer to a person or thing that is considered to be the best ever in a particular field, category, etc., especially in sports).

   If he hadn’t been injured, he would have been the GOAT, but he’s still a top 5 player.

   That film is indisputably GOAT—I watch it at least once a year.

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goat ¹ British  

/ ɡəʊt /

noun

1. any sure-footed agile bovid mammal of the genus Capra, naturally inhabiting rough stony ground in Europe, Asia, and N Africa, typically having a brown-grey colouring and a beard. Domesticated varieties ( C. hircus ) are reared for milk, meat, and wool

2. short for Rocky Mountain goat

3. informal a lecherous man

4. a bad or inferior member of any group (esp in the phrase separate the sheep from the goats )

5. short for scapegoat

6. to fool around

7. slang to cause annoyance to someone

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Goat ² British  

/ ɡəʊt /

noun

1. the constellation Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac

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goat More Idioms  

1. see get someone's goat; separate the sheep from the goats.

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Other Word Forms

• goatlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of goat¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English got, Old English gāt; cognate with Gothic gaits, Old Norse geit, German Geiss; akin to Latin haedus “young goat, kid”

Origin of GOAT²

First recorded in 1965–70; originally the name of a company founded by Muhammad Ali, who applied the term greatest of all time to himself

Explanation

A four-legged, rambunctious farm animal with small curved horns is a goat. Farmers raise goats for milk, wool, and meat — as well as for their skill at clearing weeds from fields. Goats aren't perfect pets because they'll nibble on just about anything, including paper, clothing, rope, outdoor furniture, and your flower garden. A well-fed goat, however, won't eat tin cans and newspaper, although they'll happily clear the poison ivy out of your yard. Goats, which are close relatives of sheep, are among the oldest domesticated animals. The Proto-Indo-European root of goat also means "to play."

Example Sentences

Dubbed Project Ibex, after the long-horned mountain goat, the vehicles are an experiment by the tech company to potentially augment the fleet of box trucks and vans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Ina Garten claims the same, slightly zhushing up her eggs with half-and-half, goat cheese and chopped chives.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

Lokopuu shares the wild fruit with the one goat she has left.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

Sony's family-friendly animated film "GOAT" -- the story of an undersized goat who wants to join a basketball-like "roarball" team -- finished in fourth place at $6.6 million.

From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026

Also salvaged was an astragalus, which was a knucklebone of a sheep or a goat used like a die in a game called “knucklebone.”

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler