wildebeest

[wil-duh-beest, vil-]

noun, plural wil·de·beests, (especially collectively) wil·de·beest.

gnu.

Origin of wildebeest

1830–40; < Afrikaans wildebees < Dutch wildebeest, equivalent to wild wild + beest beast

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for wildebeest

Contemporary Examples of wildebeest

A column of wildebeest cantered rigidly in the other direction—all spindly legs, candyfloss white beards, and sloping backs.
Walking With Wildebeests: Exploring the Serengeti on Foot
Joanna Eede
July 9, 2013

Historical Examples of wildebeest

What could there be in my wiping my face to provoke the wildebeest anew?
The Bush Boys
Captain Mayne Reid
If I leaped down, the wildebeest would kill me to a certainty.
The Bush Boys
Captain Mayne Reid
My first shot in Africa was at a wildebeest at three hundred yards.
In Africa
John T. McCutcheon
The Kaffir had shot a wildebeest, he said, but he had come to assist them in disposing of theirs.
Hendricks the Hunter
W.H.G. Kingston
The springboks did not interest them; but the flesh of the wildebeest would have been a treat to all.
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for wildebeest

wildebeest

noun plural -beests or -beest

another name for gnu

Word Origin for wildebeest

C19: from Afrikaans, literally: wild beast

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

Word Origin and History for wildebeest

1838, from S. African Dutch (in modern Afrikaans wildebees, plural wildebeeste), literally "wild beast," from Dutch wild "wild" (see wild (adj.)) + beest "beast, ox" (in S.African Dutch "steer, cattle"), from Middle Dutch beeste, from Old French beste "beast" (see beast).