Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A periodic state of heightened sexual activity and aggression in adult male elephants, characterized by the discharge of secretions from glands near the eyes and the continuous dribbling of urine.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A time during which male
elephants exhibit increased levels of sexual activity and aggressiveness.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an annual phase of heightened sexual excitement in the males of certain large mammals (especially elephants); is associated with discharge from a gland between the eye and ear
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The exact chemical blend of a pheromone emitted by older male elephants in musth influences both a female elephant's interest in mating and how other surrounding elephants behave, a new study has found.
December 22nd, 2005 2005
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The word musth is derived from a Persian word meaning drunk.
Home | Mail Online 2010
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Experts have attributed the elephant's behaviour to 'musth' - a state of heightened testosterone-fueled aggression in bull elephants.
Home | Mail Online 2010
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Bull elephants, when inclined to mate, enter a frenzied state called musth; they fight with each other for possession of the cow elephants, and become a menace to everything in their path; many humans are killed at this time.
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(> 25 years) undergo an annual period of sexual activity, known as musth, during which they experience heightened testosterone levels, continuously dribble large quantities of strongly scented urine, become dominant to all other non-musth males, and are the preferred mates of females
PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Lucy A. Bates et al. 2010
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Alpha most likely gored these elephants because they resisted his sexual advances while he was in a "musth" state, the forest officials said.
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Alpha most likely gored these elephants because they resisted his sexual advances while he was in a "musth" state, the forest officials said.
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Experts attribute the behaviour to 'musth' (a state of heightened testosterone-fuelled aggression in bull elephants).
The Times of India 2010
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Alpha most likely gored these elephants because they resisted his sexual advances while he was in a "musth" state, the forest officials said.
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Alpha most likely gored these elephants because they resisted his sexual advances while he was in a "musth" state, the forest officials said.
bilby commented on the word musth
When I saw the definition I immediately suspected sionnach had hacked WeirdNET. But no, this is really what it means!
December 23, 2007
madmouth commented on the word musth
This is an odd little romanization; the word sounds just like "must".
April 17, 2009
qroqqa commented on the word musth
You're right, it is odd. I assumed it was a perfectly normal romanization of an Indian word containing aspirated th or ʈh, but it's not. The Urdu is mast "mad; drunk", and the expected romanization 'must' was used for most of the nineteenth century. Kipling appears to have stuck on the spurious -h.
April 17, 2009