bushmeat

noun

bush·​meat ˈbu̇sh-ˌmēt How to pronounce bushmeat (audio)
variants or less commonly bush meat
: meat obtained by hunting wild animals especially in Africa and Asia
Hahn's studies also alerted her to the spiraling trade in meat from wild animals, called bushmeat, which threatens chimps, gorillas, orangutans, and many other primate species with extinction.Discover, December 2002
The rarity of fish in West Africa contributes to the bushmeat trade—meaning that leopards, monkeys, hippos, and antelopes are paying the price of EU overfishing.Jonathan Stein, Mother Jones, March 2006
… an organization … which works in the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect bonobo habitats and to combat illegal trading in bush meat.Ian Parker, New Yorker, 30 July 2007

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bushmeat was in 1842

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Cite this Entry

“Bushmeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bushmeat. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.

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