hunter-gatherer

noun

hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er ˈhən-tər-ˈga-t͟hər-ər 

: 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

Modern Europeans descend from three main ancestral populations: hunter-gatherers who colonized the continent by around 40,000 years ago, early farmers from Anatolia who came into Europe about 8,500 years ago, and pastoralists from the Pontic-Caspian steppe who arrived around 5,000 years ago. —Kermit Pattison, Scientific American, 20 May 2025

Per a project summary, the team discovered caves filled with paintings and traces of hunter-gatherer settlements. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2025

The study’s authors believe their findings can help kick off thoughtful reexaminations of Europe’s last hunter-gatherer societies, as well as their influence on the natural world around them. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 9 Apr. 2025

Dogs evolved from gray wolves (Canis lupus) that began living near human hunter-gatherer settlements at least 15,000 years ago—long before agriculture became a thing. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hunter-gatherer

• gatherer

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