snow leopard

American  

noun

snow leopards plural

1. a long-haired, leopardlike feline, Panthera (Uncia ) uncia, of mountain ranges of central Asia, having a relatively small head and a thick, creamy-gray coat with rosette spots: an endangered species.

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snow leopard British  

noun

1. Also called: ounce.  a large feline mammal, Panthera uncia, of mountainous regions of central Asia, closely related to the leopard but having a long pale brown coat marked with black rosettes

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• snow leopards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of snow leopard

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snow leopard

And who can find a snow leopard when he needs one?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Yangchen was among the women who helped collect data for Himachal Pradesh's snow leopard survey in 2024, which found that the state was home to 83 snow leopards - up from 51 in 2021.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026

So far this year, she has starred in the nearly billion-dollar-grossing blockbuster hit “A Minecraft Movie” and voiced a villainous snow leopard in “The Bad Guys 2.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025

Here, researchers collected eDNA from tracks left by wild Alaskan polar bears and Swedish Eurasian lynx, as well as captive polar bears, lynx, and a snow leopard kept in wildlife parks in Sweden and Finland.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 5, 2023

Three species under the panda umbrella: the snow leopard, the golden snub-nosed monkey, the red panda.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh