bighorn

noun

less common variant of bighorn sheep

: a usually grayish-brown wild sheep (Ovis canadensis) of mountainous and desert regions of western North America

Note: The bighorn sheep has a white patch on the rump and, in the males, massive horns that curve up and back over the ears and then up and forward toward the cheeks.

Examples of bighorn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Herd numbers are expanding in some areas, which increases the chances that a satellite ram looking for love will encounter a domestic sheep or sick bighorn from another herd and bring illness back home. —Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 11 Apr. 2024

The businessman from Plaistow, N.H., was an avid bighorn hunter and purchased several ranches in the Riggins area. —Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024

Boggan was present when Carrey agreed to sell both his ranch and the bighorn collection to Robert Senter. —Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024

The curving, winding lines in the desert sand were a dead give away — a pack of coyotes had feasted on the body of this Peninsular bighorn ram. —Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Dec. 2023

For still-comfortable weather and lighter crowds, aim for June, when baby animals—like bear cubs, wolf puppies, and adorable bighorn fawns—are abundant and waterfalls are at their fullest, or September to mid-October, when aspens turn to gold and elk are bugling. —Nina Kokotas Hahn, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Nov. 2021

Texas wildlife officials have been instrumental in restoring numbers of desert bighorn sheep after the population decreased due to disease and unregulated hunting, according to TPWD, which estimated the bighorn's population in Texas at 1,500 in 2018. —Amanda Jackson, CNN, 9 Aug. 2020

Ratliff said that on Nov. 19, ODFW biologists found a dead bighorn ram near Little Deacon Creek, a few miles west of Brownlee Reservoir and near the geographic center of the Lookout Mountain herd’s range. —Jayson Jacoby, oregonlive, 1 Dec. 2020

The Burnt River Canyon herd, which lives in the rugged canyon about 20 miles southeast of Baker City, consists of the California bighorn subspecies. —Jayson Jacoby, oregonlive, 1 Dec. 2020

Geographical Definition

Bighorn

geographical name

Big·​horn ˈbig-ˌhȯrn 

river 336 miles (541 kilometers) long in northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana flowing north into the Yellowstone River see wind