Illustration of mongoose
plural mongooses also mongeese
ˈmän-ˌgēs 
ˈmäŋ-
: any of numerous long slender carnivorous mammals (family Herpestidae) chiefly of Africa and southern Europe and Asia that are usually ferret-sized agile mammals typically with nonretractile sharp claws, short legs, long tail, and usually brownish or grayish fur sometimes with bands or stripes
Note: Mongooses feed chiefly on small animals (such as insects, earthworms, birds, snakes, and rodents) and are sometimes grouped with the viverrids in two subfamilies (Herpestinae and Galidiinae).
Examples of mongoose in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There’s all kinds of stuff that has tried to be a bit catlike in different ways—mongooses, things like that.
—
Kate Wong, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2023
These extinct mongoose relatives were about 240 pounds–roughly the size of a lioness–and went extinct about 500,000 years ago.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 28 Sep. 2023
Feral cats, rats and mongooses, meanwhile, ate unsuspecting ground-nesting birds.
—Dino Grandoni, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Aug. 2023
Cane toads have become a plague in Australia far worse than the sugarcane-eating beetles they were supposed to control, while mongooses that were introduced to kill rats in places such as Jamaica and Fiji have instead decimated certain populations of the islands’ unique native birds.
—Nala Rogers, Popular Mechanics, 9 Aug. 2023
In Fodor’s, a mongoose voiced by Neil Gaiman calls him on the telephone.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 July 2023
When the islands became fused to the mainland the mongoose spread southwards and developed into its present jaguar-like form.
—Discover Magazine, 31 May 2018
And yes, belief in the mongoose (Gef) appears to work as an analogy for belief in God (God).
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 July 2023
Turns out that mongooses is the proper plural because mongoose is Hindi and is thus made plural in the regular way.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2022
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Kate Wong, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2023
These extinct mongoose relatives were about 240 pounds–roughly the size of a lioness–and went extinct about 500,000 years ago.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 28 Sep. 2023
Feral cats, rats and mongooses, meanwhile, ate unsuspecting ground-nesting birds.
—Dino Grandoni, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Aug. 2023
Cane toads have become a plague in Australia far worse than the sugarcane-eating beetles they were supposed to control, while mongooses that were introduced to kill rats in places such as Jamaica and Fiji have instead decimated certain populations of the islands’ unique native birds.
—Nala Rogers, Popular Mechanics, 9 Aug. 2023
In Fodor’s, a mongoose voiced by Neil Gaiman calls him on the telephone.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 July 2023
When the islands became fused to the mainland the mongoose spread southwards and developed into its present jaguar-like form.
—Discover Magazine, 31 May 2018
And yes, belief in the mongoose (Gef) appears to work as an analogy for belief in God (God).
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 July 2023
Turns out that mongooses is the proper plural because mongoose is Hindi and is thus made plural in the regular way.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mongoose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Hindi & Marathi mãgūs, from Prakrit maṁgūsa
First Known Use
1673, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near mongoose
Cite this Entry
“Mongoose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mongoose. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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More from Merriam-Webster on mongoose
Nglish: Translation of mongoose for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mongoose
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