hunter-gatherer

noun

hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er ˈhən-tər-ˈga-t͟hər-ər How to pronounce hunter-gatherer (audio)
: a member of a culture in which food is obtained by hunting, fishing, and foraging rather than by agriculture or animal husbandry

Examples of hunter-gatherer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Scientists already understood that most Indians are descended from three groups: ancient Iranian farmers, Eurasian steppe herders and South Asian hunter-gatherers. Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Mar. 2024 They were colonized and forced off their land by the Japanese, made to give up their lifestyle as hunter-gatherers and forbidden from speaking their language and practicing their religion. Helen Schulman, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024 Our guide was an Inuvialuit-Gwich'in hunter-gatherer and tourism entrepreneur named Kylik Kisoun Taylor. Sophy Roberts, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Feb. 2024 The shell fragments came from four Mesolithic hunter-gatherer sites and 11 sites ranging from the Neolithic up to the Iron Age. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024 The study, published in the journal Nature, found that rather than co-existing peacefully, the hunter-gatherers in what is now Denmark, were wiped out by farmer-settlers. Bradford Betz, Fox News, 19 Feb. 2024 Archaeologists had believed it to be mostly suited for hunter-gatherers, but an inhospitable place for complex civilizations. Larissa Gao, NBC News, 12 Jan. 2024 The name is derived from the Paleolithic era in history and operates on the premise that those following it should eat like the hunter-gatherers of 2.6 million years ago. USA TODAY, 1 Jan. 2024 The barrier was likely constructed about 11,000 years ago to help hunter-gatherers pursue reindeer amid the sparse landscape after the last ice age. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hunter-gatherer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hunter-gatherer was in 1938

Dictionary Entries Near hunter-gatherer

Cite this Entry

“Hunter-gatherer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunter-gatherer. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hunter-gatherer

noun
hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er
-ˈgat͟h-ər-ər,
-ˈget͟h-
: a member of a culture in which food is gotten by hunting, fishing, and gathering rather than by agriculture

More from Merriam-Webster on hunter-gatherer

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!