mongoose

American  

[mong-goos, mon-] / ˈmɒŋˌgus, ˈmɒn- /

noun

plural

mongooses

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.

Etymology

Origin of mongoose

1690–1700; < Marathi mangūs, variant of muṅgūs

Example Sentences

In our romantic life, we more closely resemble these social, close-knit mongooses than we do our primate cousins, a "league table" of monogamy compiled by scientists suggests.

From BBC

It’s sliding under some of the nearby tents, leaping over people with ease, and running from a horde of mongooses.

From Literature

On the course, elaborate tombs of the city's past rulers poke through tangled trees that are home to peacocks, troops of monkeys and mongooses.

From Barron's

However, unrestrained hunting, habitat loss and predation by the invasive mongoose left fewer than 30 in the wild by 1952.

From Los Angeles Times

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