javelina
Americannoun
-
javelinas,
plural
-
javelina
plural
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)”
Compare meaning
How does javelina compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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:
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
But assistant superintendent Em Casey says the hunger-driven javelina insurgents are wrecking shop so hard this year that the course has to spend 45 to 50 hours a week repairing the damage.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 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
Savannah and her mother joked about the javelinas, the piglike animals that foraged through the family’s trash cans at night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
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
Now Bisbee says the club is working with its restaurant suppliers, trying to scorch the javelinas with a one-million Scoville-unit chili oil that the club can spray over the turf without killing it.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2023
In his interviews with investigators, Mark Sheppard said he and his brother had been out looking to shoot animals and thought they had spotted some javelinas, similar to wild hogs.
From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 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.
