roe deer

noun

a small, agile Old World deer, Capreolus capreolus, the male of which has three-pointed antlers.

Origin of roe deer

before 1000; Old English rāhdēor (not recorded in ME)

Also called roe.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for roe deer

Wilhelm Bischoff of Munich: works on the history of the development of the rabbit, dog, guinea-pig, roe-deer.
The Last Link|Ernst Haeckel
There are from 60-100 in the cow and sheep, but only about five or six in the Roe-deer.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)|Francis Maitland Balfour
He tamed leverets and partridges, and little birds, and hares, and roe-deer.
The Cloister and the Hearth|Charles Reade
All other animals of the deer kind are inconstant in their amours, but the roe-deer never forsake each other.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VI (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

Possibly the increase of rabbits has tended to reduce the number of roe-deer, by diminishing their food supply.
Gairloch In North-West Ross-Shire|John H. Dixon, F.S.A. Scot

British Dictionary definitions for roe deer

roe deer

noun

a small graceful deer, Capreolus capreolus, of woodlands of Europe and Asia. The antlers are small and the summer coat is reddish-brown

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

roe deer

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of roe deer

Examples from the Web for roe deer

British Dictionary definitions for roe deer

roe deer

noun