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

Historical Examples of roe deer

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
I remember that once, when I was a little boy, I got a roe-deer as a present.
The Adventures of the U-202
E. Spiegel
He tamed leverets and partridges, and little birds, and hares, and roe-deer.
The Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade
Our objects that day were boar and roe-deer; but presently a partridge was descried sprinting up the rugged screes above.
Unexplored Spain
Abel Chapman
Besides the red deer, or stag, the forests at this time were filled with roe-deer.
Men of the Old Stone Age
Henry Fairfield Osborn

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