oestrous

[es-truhs, ee-struhs]

adjective

Zoology.

1. Chiefly British.,  a variant of estrous.

Word History and Origins

Origin of oestrous¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; oestr(us) + -ous

Example Sentences

Researchers have justified this bias by claiming that oestrous cycles in female rodents – and menstrual cycles in human women – would potentially corrupt results.

Read more on The Guardian

That might put women more into an oestrous state, whereby they are more interested in sexually attractive characteristics.

Read more on The Guardian

Sure enough, when a territorial male smelled the oestrous female, he sniffed the source for a long time and then apparently went to track her down.

Read more on Washington Post

A third fear, which I do think is justified, is that reviewers might ask scientists to repeat all their studies in every phase of the oestrous cycle.

Read more on Nature

Both when the hormone was withheld and when the cells were silenced, the females lost interest in mating during oestrous, which is when female mice are sexually active.

Read more on BBC