mongoose

American  

[mong-goos, mon-] / ˈmɒŋˌgus, ˈmɒn- /

noun

mongooses plural

1. a slender, ferretlike carnivore, Herpestes edwardsi, of India, that feeds on rodents, birds, and eggs, noted especially for its ability to kill cobras and other venomous snakes.

2. any of several other animals of this genus or related genera.

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mongoose British  

/ ˈmɒŋˌɡuːs /

noun

1. any small predatory viverrine mammal of the genus Herpestes and related genera, occurring in Africa and from S Europe to SE Asia, typically having a long tail and brindled coat

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Usage

Plural word for mongoose The plural form of mongoose is mongooses (not mongeese). The plurals of some other singular words that end in -oose are also formed this way, including caboose/cabooses and papoose/papooses. The plural mongooses is confusing because the plural of goose is the irregular form geese, which derives directly from its original pluralization in Old English. However, the term mongoose only uses the standard English plural -s ending.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• mongooses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mongoose

1690–1700; < Marathi mangūs, variant of muṅgūs

Example Sentences

Scream queen Samara Weaving has an extraordinary yell: shrill, feral and ferocious, like a mongoose before it goes on the attack.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

Thankfully, the mongoose rampage isn’t targeting humans, though they aren’t above ground-based kitchen invasions when pushed into an environmental threat, and their toxic bites can quickly become lethal.

From Salon • Apr. 15, 2024

Instead, they clung to their version of the facts—that a talking mongoose had taken up residence in their abode and entered an unlikely friendship with them.

From National Geographic • Sep. 19, 2023

Meerkats, slender-tailed creatures with pointy faces, are members of the mongoose family and are native to Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2023

All God’s creatures have names, whether they slither across our path or show up for sale at our front stoop: bushbuck, mongoose, tarantula, cobra, the red-and-black monkey called ngonndo, geckos scurrying up the walls.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver