ox

¹ American  

[oks] / ɒks /

noun

plural

oxen, oxes

1. the adult castrated male of the genus Bos, used chiefly as a draft animal.

2. any member of the bovine family.

3. Informal. a clumsy, stupid fellow.

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ox- ² American  

Chemistry.

1. a combining form meaning “containing oxygen”.

   oxazine.

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Ox. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Oxford.

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ox British  

/ ɒks /

noun

1. an adult castrated male of any domesticated species of cattle, esp Bos taurus, used for draught work and meat

2. any bovine mammal, esp any of the domestic cattle

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Usage

Plural word for ox The plural form of ox is oxen. This is one of the few remaining irregular nouns whose plural  derives directly from its original pluralization in Old English. A similar change is made when pluralizing woman (women), man (men), and child (children). In some rare instances, ox is pluralized in the more conventional fashion as oxes, but this form is often considered incorrect and should be avoided.

Other Word Forms

• oxlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of ox¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English oxe, Old English oxa; cognate with Old Frisian oxa, Old Saxon, Old High German ohso, Old Norse uxi, oxi; akin to Welsh ych

Origin of ox-²

Short for oxygen

Origin of Ox.³

From the Medieval Latin word Oxonia

Example Sentences

For the same reason, the government has also had to postpone the annual winter musk ox hunt that was due to start on January 31.

From Barron's

One of Giovanni's most notable miracles involved healing an ox with a broken leg.

From Science Daily

The patrolmen are equipped with rifles and handguns, to be used as a last resort against angry polar bears and musk ox.

From Barron's

"After all, it is an ox that pulls a cart, not a goat."

From Barron's

They don’t really care about “the reasons” or how others were experiencing America, whose ox the past few decades was being gored.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• burly
• hulking
• sturdy