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flehmen

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fleh·​men | \ ˈflā-mən How to pronounce flehmen (audio) \

Definition of flehmen

: a mammalian behavior (as of horses or cats) in which the animal inhales with the mouth open and upper lip curled to facilitate exposure of the vomeronasal organ to a scent or pheromone
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Other Words from flehmen

flehmen intransitive verb

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Flehmen comes from German, in which the word applies to animals and means "to curl the upper lip." The German source of the English word is a verb, and it is used, infrequently, as such, as in "the horse flehmened." More often, the English verb form is a gerund: "the horse's flehmening." Flehmen is sometimes capitalized in English because German nouns are capitalized; however, the English word tends to be lowercase.

First Known Use of flehmen

1970, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for flehmen

German, from flehmen (of animals) to curl the upper lip

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The first known use of flehmen was in 1970

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Dictionary Entries Near flehmen

flegm

flehmen

fleid

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Cite this Entry

“Flehmen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flehmen. Accessed 16 May. 2022.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about flehmen

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