ox
noun
the adult castrated male of the genus Bos, used chiefly as a draft animal.
ox
1 American
[oks]
/ ɒks /
noun
-
oxen,
plural
-
oxes
plural
-
the adult castrated male of the genus Bos, used chiefly as a draft animal.
-
any member of the bovine family.
-
Informal. a clumsy, stupid fellow.
ox-
2
American
Chemistry.
Ox.
3
American
abbreviation
ox
British
/ ɒks /
noun
-
an adult castrated male of any domesticated species of cattle, esp Bos taurus, used for draught work and meat
-
any bovine mammal, esp any of the domestic cattle
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Vocabulary lists containing ox
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One video showed ox carts transporting artillery pieces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
"This time of year there is not much to hunt. So we rely on musk ox meat and skin," Kleist says.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
One of Giovanni's most notable miracles involved healing an ox with a broken leg.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2026
There has been some success with the Australian government's crown-of-thorns starfish culling programme, which has killed over 50,000 starfish by injecting them with vinegar or ox bile.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2025
Unlike Handsome, for example, who was relaxed in both musk ox and non–musk ox interactions, C.C. could never quite grasp what was expected.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
The smooth stretches of the river were passed with the oar and sail, the currents with poles, while the more difficult rapids were overcome by the men, assisted with ox- teams.
From Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago Personal recollections and reminiscences of a sexagenarian by Canniff Haight
One man relates that he and a friend or two were out in a hunting party with an ox- team.
From Abraham Lincoln: a History — Volume 01 by John George Nicolay
She used to take long rambles with Mr. Van Brunt when business led him to the woods, sometimes riding part of the way on the ox- sled.
From The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner
Then their places on the trail are taken by ox- and pony carts.
From Across Mongolian Plains A Naturalist's Account of China's 'Great Northwest' by Roy Chapman Andrews
The afternoon was already half spent when Mr. Van Brunt's ox- cart was seen returning.
From The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner
In some species the legs are very slender, as the Zebu, Manilla Buffalo, and Domestic Ox. 5th.
From Delineations of the Ox Tribe The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes. Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos. by George Vasey
As a teen, he divided his time between school and driving oxen to till the land.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
How that happens will depend on whose oxen are gored.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
When that stopped paying out, he used his oxen to feed the town of Bodie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
Another bunch of dudes and a bunch of oxen got it into a cart, in one piece this time.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2024
Boys and dogs drive the horses and oxen to the river and break through the ice to let them drink.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
With protectionist trade policies, there's a very strong likelihood that there may be more oxes gored than lambs saved.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2017
Partly it’s cultural inertia, but I suspect it also has something to do with the fact that the companies whose oxes are being gored own some of the nation’s tallest soapboxes.
From Forbes ● Jul. 11, 2011
She jumps on the cart and Wilf snaps the reins on his oxes.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
But Jerry, who was up in the wagon playing teamster cried, 'I see dem, Mudder; oxes and Mith Lane.'
From Neighbours by Robert J. C. Stead
Gentyllmen, have you not hearde of Aesopps dogge That once lay snarlinge in the oxes maunger?
From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 3 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
