hippo
noun
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hippo
1 American
[hip-oh]
/ ˈhɪp oʊ /
noun
Informal.
-
hippos
plural
Hippo
2
American
[hip-oh]
/ ˈhɪp oʊ /
noun
hippo-
3
American
hippo
British
/ ˈhɪpəʊ /
noun
-
short for hippopotamus
-
an armoured police car
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hippo1
By shortening
Origin of hippo-3
< Greek: combining form of híppos; cognate with Latin equus, Old Irish ech, Old English eoh, Sanskrit aśvas, Lithuanian ašvà
Explanation
A hippo is a very large African mammal that lives both in and out of the water. Adult hippos can weigh well over 3,000 pounds. Hippos are the third-largest land mammals (after elephants and rhinos), and of the three, they are by far the most aggressive and territorial. These gray, hairless, barrel-shaped animals resemble enormous pigs, but they're more closely related to whales and dolphins. Hippo is shorthand for hippopotamus, a word that derives from the Greek ho hippos potamios, "the horse of the river."
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:
In Zambia’s Kafue National Park, Ila Safari Lodge, owned by Green Safaris, has its own solar-powered boat, which is used for expeditions in search of hippo pods and Nile crocodiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
McDonald’s soon followed, launching in 1979 its Happy Meal, which came with a free circus animal trinket — a lion, elephant, hippo or bear.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Bumpy joins another young hippo at Kaluku who is nearly a year old, although they are being kept in different areas, the sanctuary says.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
Sotheby’s expected its Lalanne hippo copper bar cart to sell for up to $10 million last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
In midafternoon, a hippo rose out of the water right beside her and opened his huge mouth.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
In northeastern Annaba -- formerly the ancient Roman city of Hippo -- Leo will visit vestiges of the city's historical past, as well as a reception centre run by Catholic nuns for impoverished elderly people.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
He abandoned his secular ambitions, returned to Africa and became the bishop of the city of Hippo Regius.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Dug’s head is so massive that, with the rest of his body mostly underwater, he resembled a blond, furry Hippo cutting through the water’s surface.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025
Astro-JJR Hippo Suzuki rider Richardson grew up in the town of Lower Hutt, just north of Wellington on New Zealand's north Island, before moving to the UK.
From BBC ● May 6, 2025
That night, seated around their camp-fire, by the waters of Hippo Pool, they held a council of war.
From The Fire-Gods A Tale of the Congo by Charles Gilson
Lastly, he was to wind them up by appearing in his favourite character of Mr. William Button, of Tooley Street, in 'the highly novel and laughable hippo- comedietta of The Tailor's Journey to Brentford.'
From Hard Times by Charles Dickens
The prefix hippo- comes from the Greek word for "horse".
From The Faerie Queene — Volume 01 by Edmund Spenser
An Indian billionaire's son has offered to help Colombia get rid of a problem it has grappled with for years - a herd of hippos linked to notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
Fishing communities along the Magdalena River have come under attack by hippos - one of the largest land animals, with adult males weighing up to three tonnes.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
Vanessa Bonet of the installation art group Dedo Vabo watched over a mission-control monitor deck, as the buzzing craft climbed into room full of braying hippos in rumpled suits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
Judy, the first rabbit to join the city's police force, has proven to her macho colleagues — buffaloes, hippos, and warthogs — that she deserves her place in the investigative department.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
No hippos would be attracted to a grassless rock.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
