javelina
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of javelina
An Americanism dating back to 1815–25; from Latin American Spanish jabalina, from Spanish: feminine of jabalín “wild boar,” dialectal variant of jabalí, from Arabic (khinzīr) jabalī “mountain (boar)”
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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.
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Behrends, who lives nearby, said the desert hills are so quiet that some residents leave their homes unlocked, and the most excitement they see is wildlife, including rattlesnakes and wild javelina pigs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
These aren’t just herds of wild javelina, justifiably rooting up plush Sedona golf courses in their natural habitat to find some grubworms during a drought.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2023
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were javelin and javelina.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2022
Authorities say the javelina ripped off a portion of the dashboard and the inside of a door in an attempt to escape.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2022
The only thing that showed up, however, was a little band of javelina hogs, and I knew better than to shoot them.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
The difference in the ways we kids talked about the javelinas and the way my parents and neighbors did was worlds away.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024
On Dec. 11, video recorders captured a mountain lion sniffing around, followed on Dec. 14 by a foraging mama bear and cub, two javelinas on Dec. 18 and, the next day, a sad-eyed ringtail cat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
So far, the javelinas have hit eight spots on the course, from all sides.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2023
Amid the push to close those gaps, environmentalists like Traphagen have called for removing some other sections of barrier they say have hurt local wildlife like bobcats, mountain lions, javelinas and mule deer.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
Once Jed Simpson’s boy Rosal shot into a bunch of javelinas and they took after him.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
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.
