oestrus

American  

[es-truhs, ee-struhs] / ˈɛs trəs, ˈi strəs /

noun

Zoology.

1. Chiefly British. a variant of estrus.

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oestrus British  

/ ˈɛstrəm, ˈiːstrəm, ˈiːstrəs, ˈɛstrəs /

noun

1. a regularly occurring period of sexual receptivity in most female mammals, except humans, during which ovulation occurs and copulation can take place; heat

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Other Word Forms

• oestrous adjective

Etymology

Origin of oestrus

First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin, from Greek oîstros “gadfly, sting, madness”

Example Sentences

Normally females will give birth to a pup each year, and they come into oestrus shortly afterwards and mate with the bulls.

From The Guardian

Odour cologne Decades before the famous smelly T-shirt research, another pioneering study took place that also suggested that human females have oestrus.

From The Guardian

And clinical trials have traditionally worked around the female oestrus cycle, because it can interfere with results.

From Scientific American

"A male lion coming across her and her cub could well be tempted to the killing of the cub in order to bring her back into oestrus and mate with her."

From BBC

It is, however, less prominent than in oestrus, and does not gape.

From Project Gutenberg