Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several African and Arabian antelopes of the genus Oryx, including the gemsbok, having black or brown markings on the face and long, straight or slightly curved horns.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An old name of some North African antelope, very likely the algazel: now definitely applied to several species of the genus Oryx.
  • noun [capitalized] A genus of orygine antelopes with long horns in both sexes, without suborbital or inguinal glands, and of large size, with thick neck, high withers, and bushy tail.
  • noun In ornithology: The red and black cardinal of the Cape of Good Hope, a kind of weaverbird, Emberiza orix of Linnæus, now Ploceus (Pyromelana) oryx.
  • noun Hence— [capitalized] A genus of weaver-birds.
  • noun [capitalized] In entomology, a genus of coleopterous insects of the family Scarabæidæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • proper noun (Zoöl.) A genus of African antelopes which includes the gemsbok, the leucoryx, the bisa antelope (Oryx beisa), and the beatrix antelope (Oryx beatrix) of Arabia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several antelopes, of genus Oryx, native to Africa, the males and females of which have long, straight horns.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large African antelope with long straight nearly upright horns

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, from Greek orux, pickax, gazelle (from its sharp horns), perhaps from orussein, to dig.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin, from Ancient Greek ὄρυξ (orux, "a pickax", "an oryx (the antelope)")

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Examples

  • The oryx is a magnificent creature, standing as tall as a horse, with the same full, flowing, dark tail that sweeps the ground.

    River God Smith, Wilbur, 1933- 1993

  • Also keeping company with the oryx is the tahr - or mountain goat, distinguished by its distinctive horn and beard - found at

    ETravelBlackboard.com 2008

  • I think that’s called an oryx or something like that.

    Rain Gods James Lee Burke 2009

  • I think that’s called an oryx or something like that.

    Rain Gods James Lee Burke 2009

  • I think that’s called an oryx or something like that.

    Rain Gods James Lee Burke 2009

  • He collected numerous heads from his hunting days, including one of each: blackbuck, scimitar horned oryx, elk, fallow, pronghorn, boar, etc.

    Our Father enjoyed hunting big-game for several years, and read various hunting magazines. Sadly, he passed away in Nov 2008. 2009

  • After Maynard Smith referenced a paper that Price had sent to the journal Nature in August 1968 inspired by correspondence earlier that year between Price and Hamilton, they joined forces to introduce game theory analysis to the study of animal behavior, specifically to explain why battles between members of the same species, such as Arabian oryx, are ritualized encounters rather than serious fights.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • How many Americans can claim herds of scimitar-horned oryx as their very own?

    Mark Morford: Psst, Wanna Kill a Scimitar-Horned Oryx? Mark Morford 2011

  • Would use 160 grain partitions for moose or the 150 grain oryx.

    270WSM....for moose? 2009

  • Would use 160 grain partitions for moose or the 150 grain oryx.

    270WSM....for moose? 2009

Comments

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  • my favourite type is the scimitar-horned oryx

    October 8, 2008

  • See also origen.

    August 5, 2021