lioness
Americannoun
-
lionesses
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lioness
1250–1300; Middle English liones, leonesse < Middle French lion ( n ) esse. See lion, -ess
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. Schaller spent three years studying lions in Africa, once crawling through thorny thickets to count cubs a lioness had hidden there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
In Farsi, this term honors women who are strong, who stand up for their rights and who are trailblazers—courageous, brave and resilient, much like a lioness.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2024
"I look upon Ambedkar as a father figure. So, I am my father's lioness," she says.
From BBC ● May 30, 2024
The first episode, “African Queens,” shows how females rise to power in Tanzania, tracking three lioness sisters as one attracts a male lion who’s attacked her cubs.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
She prowls forward—like a lioness moving in for the kill.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
The Barbary lionesses, Thheiba and Fidda, were 22-years-old and were the remaining two females of a pride at Belfast Zoo, with one male lion named Qays left.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
He learned that after a kill, lionesses gorge yet seldom bring food to their young.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
But Taka’s father, a king who prioritizes royal lineage, isn’t pleased, referring to Mufasa as the “stray” and forcing him to be raised by the lionesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2024
Each pride is comprised of several related lionesses.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 21, 2023
No ordinary clasp would suffice for such a weight, so the greatcloak was held in place by a matched pair of miniature lionesses crouching on his shoulders, as if poised to spring.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
