Dictionary.com

muskox

or musk ox

[ muhsk-oks ]
/ ˈmʌskˌɒks /
Save This Word!

noun, plural musk·ox·en [muhsk-ok-suhn]. /ˈmʌskˌɒk sən/.
a bovine ruminant, Ovibos moschatus, of Arctic regions of North America and Greenland, that is between an ox and a sheep in size and anatomy.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of muskox

First recorded in 1735–45; musk + ox, so called from its odor
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use muskox in a sentence

  • It’s home to six National Wild and Scenic Rivers—Noatak, John, Alatna, Tinayguk, North Fork Koyukuk, and Kobuk—and a diverse array of wildlife from grizzlies to muskox.

  • He never gets frostbitten toes 'though in snow and ice he plays; Now being a Muskox can't be bad in the long, cold winter days!

    Animal Children|Edith Brown Kirkwood
  • Allong this trip so near the sea we saw hundreds of seals, and walrus and killed a Muskox the most rare animal in the world.

    Black Beaver|James Campbell Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for muskox

musk ox

noun
a large bovid mammal, Ovibos moschatus, which has a dark shaggy coat, short legs, and widely spaced downward-curving horns and emits a musky smell: now confined to the tundras of Canada and Greenland
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK